C.A.C. One feels the importance of connecting the thought of the fellowship with the calling of God.

Ques. Would it of necessity detach us from every other association?

C.A.C. Yes, and it would lead us to see that the partnership and common interests which we enjoy together are in no sense voluntary; they cannot be taken up or laid down at pleasure.

Ques. Do we see the calling in Abraham?

C.A.C. Abraham is the conspicuous example in Scripture of calling. "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham", Acts 7:2. Country, kindred and father's house all had to be left; the truth of fellowship involves that.

Ques. Is there a call in the gospel?

C.A.C. Yes. The call to the fellowship comes through the gospel. In this chapter there is a call to look at the brethren in the light of divine calling, to take stock of the saints, to look at them as they really are. It is very important to take up the fellowship from the side of the divine calling.

Rem. "Consider your calling, brethren ..." (verses 26 - 29). Have a look round and see what the saints are like.

C.A.C. "Foolish things"! We sometimes press the thought that we should look at the saints from the side of

the calling but the other side is 'nonentities'! That is the sort of people. The calling of God is sufficient to dignify people like that. In the light of the calling they are dignified. Nothing is of real value but what is the fruit of the calling of God.

Ques. And that is sovereignty?

C.A.C. Yes. If I ignore a believer I am out of harmony with God. The fellowship is a matter of light. Both Paul and John put it that way. It is not mere information but light in the soul. Take the Jew; he desires a sign; he has not got light. The Greek seeks after wisdom, but Christ preached as the crucified One becomes to those who are called God's wisdom and God's power. That is light in the soul.

Rem. The calling of God gives us divine light.

C.A.C. It did that to Abraham. If the God of glory appears to a man there is light.

Peter says that God "has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light", 1 Peter 2:9. It is "wonderful light" that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The world is a sphere of darkness. "What fellowship of light with darkness?", 2 Corinthians 6:14. The apostle uses different words there: "For what participation is there between righteousness and lawlessness? ... and what consent of Christ with Beliar ... ?" but fellowship is connected with light and darkness. Fellowship is largely a question of divine light. Our fellowship together is determined by the amount of spiritual light we have. "His Son" gives you the full revelation of God; God has fully come out. "His Son" means a great deal to God. We do not think enough of the joy that it was to God to have at last a Person in manhood to reveal Him. "His Son" is God's side; "our Lord" shows that there is refuge from lawlessness.

Rem. In 1 John 1:7 it says, "If we walk in the light as

he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another".

C.A.C. That bond is established down here in the midst of darkness, formed in people by the shining of the light in Christ. God is faithful in relation to the fellowship (see chapter 10 where it is our individual pathway and His faithfulness to us in our weakness).

We want to recognise the truth of the fellowship. God is faithful in regard of the fellowship; He will not fail us or leave us to our own resources. It is an immense comfort to us in conditions of weakness. We have to do with the fidelity of God, not of the brethren; we have to do with the faithfulness of God, carried through successfully by Him. The bond of the fellowship is the Person, a living Person able to hold us; indeed He does hold His saints.

Rem. There is no lowering of the standard.

C.A.C. No. "His Son" sets forth, firstly the full light of the outshining of God; we are called into a circle where the effulgence of God shines in the Person of His Son; and, secondly, that God has established all the pleasure of His love in a Man. He has found in His Son an answer to all His love and He is restful in it. 'Nonentities' is one side of it and finishes that side. God comes out in the calling and lights them up with celestial splendour. What light when the holy splendour of God shines in! We are blessed in His Son; God says, 'I will bless you in Him'. The fellowship subsists at this moment and every called one is in it. Many do not recognise it but we want to do so. It is an immense loss not to recognise it for then we are the losers. All saints are essential to the fellowship. If we felt that we could not do without them, and told the Lord so, perhaps we would get them.

"Our Lord" -- it is a wonderful thing to escape from lawlessness; it should be a real exercise with us to do so. To accept that in the fellowship nothing can rule but the

will of God and that it is the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord is the language of subjection. One of the great features of the fellowship is that we can really say, 'our Lord'. He is the supreme One and it is such a wonderful lordship. The kind of authority is a lordship of blessing.

The first sense you get of it is in Romans 5, that from justification up to eternal life all is administered "through our Lord Jesus Christ". You are subdued because you are enriched. You are never subdued otherwise. Divine authority and rule have come out in the way of blessing. Thank God for it! There is everything in me contrary to my enjoyment of it but subjection to the Lord ensures it. If I am hindered in the enjoyment of it I am not owning the lordship of Christ because He could deliver me from what hinders. Nothing else does. It is a great thing to call on the name of the Lord. He is able to command and subdue us so that we are liberated to enjoy the blessedness. It is a great thing when we say 'Lord' to Jesus. It requires the power of the Spirit. There is virtue in Him. The Lord touched the leper and cleansed him; I suppose we have all known His touch in that way. He put the link on from His side, but when we put the link on from our side and say 'Lord' there is virtue in Him for me and the benefit of His delivering power is known. You cannot afford to be insubject for you lose the liberty and the support. God has called us to walk together in the blessedness of all this. We are all partners together.

Ques. What would you say as to the fellowship of His death?

C.A.C. 1 Corinthians 10 gives us the character of the fellowship, the particular way in which it separates us from the idolatrous world. The Corinthians did not understand the character of the fellowship.

Ques. What is the fellowship of the blood of Christ?

C.A.C. "The communion of the blood of the Christ" would show that all blessing has come through death. It puts you, as to the source of all your blessing and joy, outside this world. "The communion of the body of the Christ" is His dead body clearly. It gives us the character of what we enjoy together and the measure of our separation from the idolatrous world. It is the enjoyment of things that come to us through the precious death of Christ.

'Thou dost make us taste the blessing,
Soon to fill a world of bliss'. (Hymn 394)

Rem. I suppose the blessings themselves are not unfolded in chapter 10 but rather how they come to us.

C.A.C. It is not the actual Lord's supper there but the moral import of it. That all christians do break bread is taken for granted but the moral character of it is shown. There is a great gulf fixed between all that we enjoy in the fellowship and what is in the circle of the world.

Rem. "Ye cannot drink the Lord's cup, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the Lord's table, and of the table of demons", 1 Corinthians 10:21.

Rem. The question is raised there, "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?"

C.A.C. It is a serious thing to play fast and loose with the fellowship. The Lord is jealous. If we become careless and slack He does not. If we become careless and slack we lose the value at the present time of all that we have been called to. The fellowship is the great feature of the present moment; we shall not have it in heaven. The Lord valued fellowship when He was here: "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer". It is most touching. He valued the companionship of the disciples here. The privileges of the fellowship are not eternal but are limited by time. We ought to value it much more than we do because it is not

eternal. Let us hold to it for we shall never have it again. The Lord cherished the peculiar bond that there was between Himself and His own on earth. "Ye are they who have persevered with me in my temptations", Luke 22:28. His own walked with Him and He valued it. The fellowship is that of the body of Christ, the One who has died here. It has been seen that there is no place in this world for God; hence we should not seek recognition here. We start out with that because the fellowship is the fellowship of the body of Christ.

The Lord sets the highest possible value on what is of or for Himself; He never undervalues it. If we are provoking the Lord to jealousy, how can He kiss us with the kisses of His mouth on the Lord's day? How can we know His embrace of love then, if through the week we have not been true to the fellowship?

There is a character of things in the fellowship which is inconceivably great. It is the direct fruit of divine calling and the calling is the fruit of divine love and brings dignity with it. Two can have it but one alone cannot; you must take account of your brethren. You could not have a partnership with less than two members. We are to be enlarged towards our brethren, "using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace", Ephesians 4:3. The way we comport ourselves with our brethren will be on that line as we recognise what is the effect of divine calling.

"To those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ God's power and God's wisdom", 1 Corinthians 1:24. If I can help a christian to recognise that, I shall help him towards the fellowship. We are very much dependent on the Lord to give us access to souls. If I can approach a soul in the grace of the Lord I may do him good. I must first get access and then use the access to further the fellowship. Darkness hinders it. One covets the ability to

bring a little ray of divine light of Christ as the wisdom of God and the power of God to a soul. God is operating in every one of His called ones that Christ may become to them the power and the wisdom of God. It is good to have divine light shining on us and doing its work.

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 17 - 31

Ques. Why is it said that Christ sent Paul to preach?

C.A.C. I suppose Christ being brought in personally would have a great bearing on the apostle's service. The anointed One being brought in did not leave any room for what was diverse in character. The apostle had in mind the true meaning of the cross of Christ, and he kept Christ and the cross always in mind in his service. He received his commission from the exalted and glorified One. "Not in wisdom of word" -- you cannot talk people into being christians.

It would seem that the cross was not presented prominently in the preaching in the Acts but that Christ was presented personally. It was brought in there once to accentuate the guilt of men who crucified Him. The cross is brought in prominently in Corinthians and Galatians when there has been departure. Where there is a slipping away from Christ and the Spirit and from divine grace, the truth of the cross becomes very necessary as the power of recovery. They had reverted largely to the wrong man and Paul does not come down on them in a withering way, but, in the skill of divine love, he showed how the cross had governed his own service among them. They had been so affected by it that he knew they would understand and he appealed to the divine work in them

that could receive what was presented. The cross governed his service and he would give no place to man in the flesh. The gospel does not address itself to man's intellect but to his conscience and heart. There is nothing more needful today than the preaching of the cross, especially among those who believe.

It is very necessary for us as believers to consider the cross and that Christ was crucified -- not only that He died but the kind of death that He suffered. The Lord referred to His being lifted up and the Spirit adds that He spoke of "what death he was about to die", John 12:33. It was the death of the cross; He died in the position of the utmost reproach. There is no death that is so expressive of reproach and before God it speaks of a curse "Cursed is every one hanged upon a tree", Galatians 3:13. Now we have to come to it that that is our place, because if Christ, God's anointed Man, is there, He is not there for anything in Himself. It is the only thing we can boast in: "far be it from me to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world", Galatians 6:14. What a practical thing it became to Paul! It is no good to speak about the cross and then exhibit fallen man in my words and ways. It was myself who was judged publicly in the cross of Christ; it was not a private but a public matter. If it took hold of me as it did of Paul it would powerfully affect my service, for that is what is in mind -- the cross as a regulating power that would shut out the flesh in the service. The apostle reminds them how he could move in perfect liberty in his service by bringing in the cross. By his learning he could have silenced the philosophers but he took a line that would have been contemptible in the eyes of the learned Greeks and which was a scandal in the eyes of the Jews. Such a man should be crucified himself, they would say.

It is touching that he does not bring the cross to bear on them to crush them. He reminds them of how he served. He would not have the cross emptied of its meaning. As having learned Christ as God's wisdom and God's power we ought to be very sympathetic with this ministry. The power of the cross has shown that not one single bit of me can remain before God, and I am thankful.

Rem. It is a relief to turn away from myself to Christ.

C.A.C. It is very important when christendom is so characterised by Judaism. The Messiah on the cross is the death-blow to the aspirations of the Jew. The religious man is absolutely rejected by God and this is seen in the cross. The cross is the power of God to free me from everything connected with myself naturally. If you could get all the wisdom of the world in one man it would not help him one jot as a christian. God has set all aside in the cross, the wisdom of the world and the religion of the world. It is part of His definite plan to "destroy the wisdom of the wise, and set aside the understanding of the understanding ones", 1 Corinthians 1:19. It is only by the calling of God that we come into it, not because of any good disposition on our part. Without God's calling we should have no appreciation of Christ or understanding of the cross, so we do not seek to work on what man is. The cross is God's estimate of man after the flesh.

Rem. In Romans 8 it is said, "God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh".

C.A.C. Yes, it is publicly condemned for those who are called of God, as those at Corinth were. God had called them Himself, and the result was that Christ was precious as the wisdom and power of God. Paul was encouraged to labour at Corinth because the Lord had said, "I have much people in this city". To everyone not called of God it is a scandal, or foolishness, to tell him he

is under death and the judgment of God. What we are is a deeper matter than what we have done. There is a fountain of evil in ourselves and many spend their lives in fruitless struggles to improve themselves. When this is faced and accepted nothing remains before God but Christ, and the believer finds everything in Him, God's anointed Man, as we read: "Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption". So there is a complete furnishing for the bankrupt sinner who did not know what to do. He finds everything he could desire in Christ. It is most emancipating! It is the greatest wisdom too -- there is no philosophy like it! Philosophy tries to patch men up, but all is worthless for man is under death. It is a simple gospel which is true, and angels have been wondering at it for two thousand years. By divine grace we are linked up with the wisdom and power of God. The man with whom I was linked has been publicly judged in the cross of Christ so that I may be linked up in grace with the Man Christ Jesus. By the mighty power of God the saved ones, the called ones, believers are taken out of Adam and planted in Christ. There is nothing left but to glorify God and that is liberty, for the service of God is in view.

In chapter 2 we have the Spirit, but the truth of the cross is necessary if we are to get the gain of the Spirit. I think I ask every day for more of the gain of the Spirit but it is only possible as the power of the cross is applied to us by God. There is no need why any christian should walk according to the flesh for five minutes -- we are under no obligation to do so. The divine furnishing is that we are not debtors to the flesh. If it does act for a moment it should be judged immediately; then we can go on.

Verses 26 - 29 show how it works out practically. Look

round and see who is called. God is set to put aside anything that would give distinction to man. It is not said, 'not any high-born' but "not many". If He does choose such He brings them down in their thoughts. "God has chosen the foolish things of the world, that he may put to shame the wise ... the ignoble things of the world, and the despised, has God chosen, and things that are not, that he may annul the things that are". He is really referring to persons. We have to learn what nonentities we are, and God says, 'I have chosen you to show what I can do for you; I will take you out of all that you are by nature, and put you in Christ Jesus, and then you will have nothing to do but to praise Me!' It is a profound comfort to me. God will bring to nothing all that men boast in. If there is anything we fancy in ourselves, God is set to crush it, for He wants us to boast in Christ Jesus.

CHAPTER 1, VERSE 30 TO CHAPTER 2, VERSE 5

C.A.C. God has set up His saints in Christ Jesus, not in themselves but in another Man, and all that God has given us is in Christ. The Corinthians were very small in it for they were babes in Christ and understood very little of what was theirs in Christ. All ministry is to make us acquainted with the great realities that are true in Christ. It regards the saints as the subject of God's work and according to that their blessing is secured in Christ Jesus, the glorified Man at God's right hand. The first thing on our side is that we "reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus", Romans 6:11. Most christians understand that they are blessed through Him, but it is so important to know that God has brought in a new

Head and that all believers are transferred in the grace of God from Adam to Christ; we have to learn it. These four things (wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption) are all in Christ.

Ques. How would these things apply to a man like the thief on the cross?

C.A.C. The value of them was all applied through pure grace though he did not understand it. Very few believers do but it does not affect the fact that it is all complete on the divine side; it is the divinely given status of the saints of God. The thief could go to paradise, the very highest place, and be perfectly fit to be there. He had cast himself off: "we indeed justly", and then, "this man has done nothing amiss", Luke 23:41. He could not understand it then, but when he comes out in his glorified body it will be manifest to the whole universe that he is in Christ. The only thing that I can boast in is what God has done. He caused the great work of atonement to be accomplished by His Son, He has blessed us in Him and put to our account all that He has secured in Christ. The great thought of wisdom is resource.

The work of Christ upon the cross has met the whole situation perfectly under the eye of God and it cannot be improved upon.

Ques. Why did he not wish to know anything among them but "Jesus Christ, and him crucified"?

C.A.C. He saw the danger of their thinking that christianity had come in to be attached to man after the flesh. He had shut out of his consciousness everything but Christ and Him crucified in his service at Corinth. He would not introduce any mere human element in his preaching. The apostles were intelligent speakers who adapted their words to those whom they were addressing. Peter said, "Give heed to my words", Acts 2:14. Stephen's masterly outline was understood by himself

intelligently, and he was a suitable vessel used of God. Every preacher ought to have exercise as to the people he is addressing; he must speak to his audience and meet the thoughts that are in their hearts in a spiritual way. So the preaching of the gospel should be right in its beginning. Paul had an object in view -- that their "faith might not stand in men's wisdom, but in God's power", and every exercised soul wants what is of God. Every true soul says: 'Whether it makes a fool of me or everyone else, I want to move on that line'.

CHAPTER 5 VERSE 7

C.A.C. My thoughts have been turned to this scripture as thinking of what it must have been to the apostle Paul as he wrote it, and what he would have it suggest to those who read it -- to all of us. He does not limit it at all; he says "our passover, Christ"; it is not limited to Egypt, the wilderness, or even the land. He must have summed up in his thoughts the whole truth of the passover as glorified by our Lord Jesus Christ in the upper room. I suppose we have all considered how the truth of the passover is a living and growing thing in the Scriptures -- not like a thing delivered once for all and left in its primary elements, but a great divine conception that develops every time you look at it; it expands; its climax is in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You get the full thought in the upper room with the Lord and His disciples. It is an institution so vast that it takes in the whole of His work. One could certainly not cover the whole field in one reading but I have in my mind to suggest a few thoughts that may be followed up. In Egypt it was a question of the

imminent judgment of God (Exodus 12). Egypt, represented by the firstborn, is under judgment. There is no moral difference between Israel and Egypt; if a difference were to be made it had to be made from God's side. He came in and made a difference: He put all the value of the passover between His people and His holy judgment. He made them eat the flesh of the lamb so that they might be nourished in the wonderful self-sacrificing love set forth in the passover. It was the righteousness of God revealed in the way of grace and love so that all their fears might be removed and they might be secured for God's pleasure. They never kept the passover again in quite the same way; the destroying angel was never outside again.

J.H.B. They ate it in haste, did they not, and in readiness to depart?

C.A.C. Yes. They were going out; they were strengthened to go out. That is a very great lesson we should learn. The world is under judgment and we with it. Christ has come in to be the passover and has been sacrificed, so that it has become God's opportunity to come out in righteous grace.

J.H.B. Do you think we are apt to forget what it is intended to result in?

C.A.C. That is very true. It is very important to get the good of what was in the mind of God in it. He did not open it all out on the first page. Really, from the divine side the passover cleared the ground so that God could bring out all that was in His heart.

J.H.B. Exodus 12:11 describes how they were to eat it; it is "Jehovah's Passover".

C.A.C. Yes, He is moving; this is the first step in a great undertaking that He has set Himself to accomplish (Exodus 23:17, 18) and that thought is emphasised in the giving of the law (Exodus 34:24, 25). That seems to emphasise what you were saying, so that when the people

were in covenant relationship, it is not "your lamb", it is "my sacrifice", "my feast"; and you get what is not mentioned in Egypt, "the fat"; that is a great advance. When you come to think of it as "my feast" you bring in all the pleasure of God in Christ and His death, so that the fat necessarily comes in -- it was all for God; that is the suggestion of how it develops. It seems that when they came into the wilderness the passover became to God the ground on which He could take up His dwelling among them, so that almost the very first thing after the setting up of the tabernacle is that they have to keep the passover. God would take up His dwelling in the midst of His people. It is a great thing to think of the passover on the divine side -- not only that it shelters me, but that it was the thought of God to dwell amongst His people according to all the value of Christ, what God calls "my sacrifice". It involves infinitely more than we can take in. One of the sweetest thoughts as we approach God is that He has more in Christ than we know; it is beyond our comprehension but not beyond our adoration. The fat is all the blessed excellence of Christ as God can appreciate Him; He has brought us to His habitation according to all the excellence of Christ. If God passes over, it is in view of dwelling; God wants to be near to us. It is not our dwelling with God, that is a most wonderful thing, but it is more wonderful that God should want to dwell with us, and dwell with us in all the perfection of what He finds in Christ. And it is "among the children of Israel"; it is not merely an individual matter; it all comes out when we are together.

J.H.B. Does not movement come in then, God says, "I will walk among you", Leviticus 26:12?

C.A.C. Was it not forty-nine days before the tabernacle moved? So we get the setting up of the tabernacle in Exodus 40. Then the keeping of the passover immediately

follows; then a period when the service of the sanctuary is carried out. The thing is set up from the point of view of service; then there is movement; this thought of the passover shows how God moves. If we want to move with God we must move with Him reverently, I would say; it is no pleasure to God to walk alone.

J.H.B. Then they made their first journey.

C.A.C. Yes; sometimes all the people of God have to wait, they cannot move forward, as in the matter of Miriam (Numbers 12:15). It is very gracious of God to wait, and it is a demand on His people to learn to wait, but it is not normal. Numbers 9:6 - 8 records one of these intuitive exercises that God delights in; there was no command that anyone who was defiled by the dead should not eat the passover; some of the most striking things in scripture were done without any commandment. Nehemiah says, "And I consulted with myself", Nehemiah 5:7. He was a very good person to take counsel with -- the man that has the anointing is the man to take counsel with. Who told Moses to pitch the tabernacle without the camp after the breaking of the law? Did God? If God had told Moses to do it, it would not have been quite the same; it was intuitive, as was Joshua's putting the stones in the bed of Jordan (Joshua 4:9); he was not told to do it; he was told to take them out before (Joshua 4:3). Some people always want chapter and verse for everything; that is all very good, but we ought to cultivate these spiritual instincts. Who told Mary to bring the box of ointment? It was Mary's heart that told her. You are brought to it in your own exercises. We are apt to think it is the old white-haired brothers and experienced sisters who have these exercises, but the apostle John says to the 'little children', "Ye have the unction from the holy one, and ye know all things", 1 John 2:20. What a wonderful thing that is! I have often

wondered at it -- these men were led by the Holy One, they wanted to present the offering to Jehovah in its set time; they really touched the borders of the land, for the unity of Israel is set forth in the passover. It is kept in the land "at the place that Jehovah thy God will choose", Deuteronomy 16:5, 6.

J.H.B. That is a new feature.

C.A.C. Yes. That is an added feature. In the wilderness you get the desire of Jehovah to dwell with Israel His people and that there should be appreciation of His dwelling among them is in accordance with the passover, so that when you come into the land He takes it quite away from "thy gates". The book of Deuteronomy has two positions -- "thy gates" and the place where Jehovah sets His name. The first refers to household responsibility -- not individual; and in the land the people are not viewed as individuals, either as in the households, or in "the place". Certain principles have to be carried out in the households, but when you come to the place where Jehovah has set His name, then you have the unity of all Israel. In Luke 22 it is His household; you have the full character of everything in the upper room: "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer". They are in the blessing of the purpose of God and realise their unity; that is the place where every divine thought is known, where He sets His name.

J.H.B. What corresponds to going up to the place today?

C.A.C. What answers to it is a spiritual movement, the unity of the people as identified with His purpose. It is the Ephesian position, Ephesians 1:2; Ephesians 2:5 - 7. You see the blessedness of the purpose of God; you see all the saints unified. Who is bound up in it? All the saints. I must love them all; I must pray for them all; I must lay myself out for them all in as far as I am able. The apostle Paul

before Agrippa says, "Our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night"; it did not look like it -- ten of them were lost and scattered over the earth; but he would not allow before a gentile monarch that anything would be incomplete; that is faith; it is a wonderful thing. The blessing reaches up to the topmost point, all based on the passover. People look on the passover as something for young converts but you will find if you really take in the thought of the passover that you will not have much trouble about anything else. In 2 Chronicles 30:15 - 17 we find that this celebration carried, in one sense, a very painful feature: the people were not purified, and indeed they were not ready at the "right time"; they had to keep it at the abnormal time, but there was a feeling of shame. That is a little how we have to take it up now. They had got away from Israel's purity which was the purity of the sanctuary; but even then there is an additional element, the burnt offerings. Both here and in the time of Josiah the burnt offering has a great place; that is, the precious fragrance of Christ in the burnt offering character. This is a day of recovery; the people are recovered in their affections before spiritual conditions come in; they were willing to keep the passover but there were not the spiritual conditions.

In 2 Chronicles 35:12, in Josiah's time, what you get is that they set apart the burnt offerings; then you get the Levites and the singers (verse 15), and all is done at the proper time. It says (verse 18) there was no such passover since the days of Samuel; there were suitable conditions. It is God reviving things.

Then you get in Ezra's time (Ezra 6) what is so blessed to see -- such a wonderful character of purity; when you have conditions like that you have conditions that are morally suitable for the Lord to come in and eat the passover with His people: it is the upper room. The Lord

says in John 15, "Ye are already clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you", and the Lord sits down with that clean company. Do we really covet the Lord's company in our passover exercises? It says they were all clean. Where there are clean conditions the Lord can eat the passover with His disciples and can introduce a new element, so that there you get an essential part which was not in the Old Testament; you do not have the full divine idea till you have the cup. In Ezra you get joy -- you get singers. In Chronicles you get the "passover offerings"; you have the whole truth of fellowship and the holy joy of the drink offering, and the anointing oil; all are bound up with the passover. Now the Lord brings in the new element -- the cup, the thought of drinking into all the blessedness that marks the kingdom of God. What kind of things will there be when God has His own way? Everything is full of blessing just because it is full of God. The actual bringing in is going to wait. The Lord said He would not drink it again until He drank it in a new manner "with you". In Mark's gospel it is "in the kingdom of my Father". Can you surpass that in the way of earthly blessing? -- you cannot. It is all waiting for its fulfilment. Israel's Messiah has consecrated the cup as part of the passover; and that is all going to stand on that imperishable basis. It has gradually spread out until it is seen in relation to God, and it opens out till you get this wonderful portion for man; it is what man is to drink into. The Lord says that is going to wait; but He gives it to us in spirit, --

'Thou dost make us taste the blessing,
Soon to fill a world of bliss' (Hymn 394);

that is set forth in Melchisedec -- bread and wine. The Lord will bring forth all that the passover is going to be. The passover cup is full of eternal life, and God is going to put it into the hands of men on earth, and in the meantime the Lord is going to bring in another cup "after supper". I have often wondered

why it did not say "the bread" after supper. There is something special in the time when the public blessing is not known -- the new covenant; the assembly knows it in a better way than Israel. The assembly has the best of everything and enjoys it in the same way as Christ enjoys it. He knew the love of the blessed God in a sorrowing and suffering heart. Israel never knew that, the church is privileged to know the love of God like that. In the presence of all the grief and pain and trials, the assembly knows, and the saint who is of the assembly knows, what it is to retire into what is spoken of by the "cup after supper"; that is a different character of things.

J.H.B. When should we know something of the passover as in Luke 22; is it when we are together?

C.A.C. I think so; it is collective in every sense, in the household character in Egypt, and when enjoyed in the land it is emphasised they were all to go up, from Dan to Beersheba. It is enjoyed in a peculiar way when we are together -- you have it all the week.

CHAPTER 10 VERSES 1 - 22

C.A.C. We must all be struck with what great prominence is given to Christ in this scripture. Moses is clearly a type of Christ, and the spiritual food, the manna, which they ate is also a precious type of Christ. Of the rock of which they drank it is expressly said, "The rock was the Christ".

Ques. How is it that they fall in the wilderness after that?

C.A.C. That is just the matter we have to take account of. Though the children of Israel had part in such a

wonderful economy the most of them had failed to get the gain of it. We are told that what happened to them is typical of ourselves and for our admonition, so that we may not be strewed in the desert but that we may go right through into the land.

Ques. Is it a question of getting to heaven?

C.A.C. No. I think it means getting into that which divine love has in view for us at the present time, of which we may possibly come short. We may fail to give God place because we fail to appreciate what He has brought us into. So it was with Israel; they failed to appreciate Moses, the manna, the Rock, the faithfulness of God and the promise of the land. That is why they came short. We have been brought into a wonderful economy of wealth. I suppose that we have all been baptised to Christ, put into relation to Him as Lord and Head, and have acquired the knowledge of the gift of the Spirit. Well, do we appreciate these things? The only way to escape falling in the wilderness is to appreciate Christ and the Spirit. The way of escape is Christ and the appreciation of Christ. That will keep us safe and nothing else will. Nothing but the appreciation of the grace that has come to us in Christ and the Spirit will keep us. Indeed if we have not that we may eventually fall.

The first part of the chapter links on with the first chapter of the epistle, where we find that Christ is the wisdom and power of God to those whom He calls. If we fall under the power of these things under which Israel fell, God has only one way of recovery -- by reviving in our souls the appreciation of Christ and all that has come to us in Him.

Ques. Does it involve the eating and drinking? In John 6 there is appreciation on the one hand and appropriation on the other.

C.A.C. The point here is that you may eat and drink

and yet be strewed in the desert; thus it is a solemn warning.

Now, christianity began with these precious things. People were baptised to Christ and to His death and ate and drank; they broke bread. I think the apostle has in view the whole christian period. It is by the allowance of the five things enumerated in this chapter that the christian profession has slipped away. God in His faithfulness provides a way out, and Christ is the way out. The Israelites lusted after the food of Egypt. Well, we are in danger of that. If people go back to the world they cannot retain their appreciation of Christ. But in God's faithfulness He provides the way out. If we drop down in our souls we are likely to return to former interests in the world.

So nothing really stands but the faithfulness of God; we gradually acquire a sense that anything that is stable is of God. He has provided an issue, that is, renewed appreciation of Christ which He in sovereignty brings to pass in the affections of His people. The Israelites did not appreciate the wonderful things into which God had brought them. God has recovered things in the whole christian profession. I think the way out is brought about by the ministry of Christ which continually goes on for the deliverance of souls from these various snares. If we drop back to the flesh nothing will recover us but the faithfulness of God bringing Christ before our souls.

The sovereignty of God operated through Paul to the Galatians with a renewed ministry of Christ, bringing sonship before them. Most of us have dropped back in our history at some time. These things happened to them as types; the real working out of the thing is now. What happened to them happened typically, but it has happened to us! This is written to preserve us, and we are preserved by the appreciation of Christ. If we are away in the smallest degree we must cry to God to bring us back to it.

Ques. Is this idolatry something more than before?

C.A.C. Paul had very much before him the thought of idolatry of which the assembly at Corinth was in danger.

Ques. Do we see everything taken account of as in nature?

C.A.C. God takes account of what is in man's nature, and it is very encouraging that He provides what will keep us free from every tendency of man's nature. These are all things to which man's nature is very prone. God foresaw that all these things would arise in the assembly. All these things that they did we are very prone to do. The point here is that we should not allow ourselves to be moved away from the appreciation of Christ. Murmuring was when they spoke evil of the land; it was questioning divine faithfulness. It speaks, too, of tempting the Christ. They had thirty-eight years' experience of the grace of Christ, and yet they complained that they had been brought to the land to perish. Who had been ordering for them? When things do not go as we wish we are very apt to tempt Christ, especially when the government of God may involve suffering and trials that may press very heavily on us. There is a temptation to forget that Christ has ordered every step of the path in the wilderness. Whatever we learn of the wretched tendency of our own hearts leads us to have more confidence in God. It is most important to see that we only stand through the faithfulness of God; if we stand otherwise we had better be afraid. God had given them the very best that love could give. It was peculiarly grievous to Him that they despised the pleasant land; such perished in the wilderness; it brought down that direct judgment of God. In our own case we learn that that is the character of our flesh. When we do not learn by divine teaching what our flesh is, we have to learn it under very humbling experiences. God has to teach us that according to the flesh we

have derived from the serpent, and then we have to learn that the serpent has been lifted up. The very flesh to which I have yielded has been condemned in God's Son. The Corinthians showed contempt for what was most holy; therefore many were weak and sickly among them and many slept.

Ques. Why does he say, "I speak as to intelligent persons"?

C.A.C. I suppose they could be regarded in that light as having the Spirit. He puts it upon them to judge what he was saying. Compared with that he brings in the thought of the cup and the bread; they were not thinking what they were doing and he challenges them. He had before him the whole scope of divine blessing that has come through the death of Christ; it is a general thought. The cup of blessing is rather wider than the cup of the new covenant; he has in mind the whole wealth of the economy of grace which has come to us in the value of the blood of Christ. People take up these things with very little appreciation of what is there. The saints know it is their common portion. They bless the cup and they respond to it; they bless God for the great blessing that has come to them in Christ. Such will escape the dangers of the earlier part of the chapter.

We do not feel strictly limited to the new covenant when we take the cup. We are left at liberty to enlarge on it; we take the cup of blessing. Who can limit that? It is not easy to bring in limitations there because it says, "They shall all know me", Jeremiah 31:34. What you get under the new covenant is the whole settlement of sin, and the saints have affections of a new kind in which they can bless Christ and the blessed God and can appreciate all the good and blessing that has come through the death of Christ. It has been said that there is less liberty in reference to the cup than there is in connection with the

loaf, but there ought to be more liberty. Christ has mediated the cup of the new covenant to us, the blessing that has come to us from the heart of God.

CHAPTER 10 VERSES 14 - 33

Ques. Perhaps you would tell us why the cup is brought forward before the loaf?

C.A.C. It is evident that the apostle used the exercises which were current as an opportunity of bringing out the truth of christian fellowship. He has in mind that the saints should learn to look at things from the standpoint of their associations. There were some that claimed liberty to eat what was offered to idols, even in idol's houses, on the ground that the idol was nothing; but that was overlooking the moral associations. He would have them to think of the moral associations, and that is very important for us. And in thinking of the fellowship, morally the cup comes before the loaf.

Ques. We get the thought of communion or fellowship in connection with both, do we not?

C.A.C. Yes, but we must know the fellowship of His blood first. We should hardly be prepared to think of the fellowship of the body of the Christ if we did not know what it was to understand the fellowship of His blood. The ground must be known first; that is, God must be known in the way of blessing first. The pouring out of the blood of Christ has changed everything; it has brought in a dispensation of blessing, so that there is no longer anything of curse, or distance from God, or unsuitability to Him. God is known in all the blessed value of the blood of the Christ and christian fellowship is

a common equal sharing in that. It seems to me that the cup and the loaf give us two entirely different sides of the whole matter of our relations with God and with one another.

It was made known to people in Old Testament times that the dispensation inaugurated at Sinai was to be superseded by another order of things altogether -- a new covenant -- by which God would be known as a Source of blessing. His people would be taught to know Him, not as a God of demand but of supply. The cup of blessing is connected with the whole economy of blessing; it has come in on the ground of the blood of Christ.

Ques. What is involved in the whole economy of blessing? Would it include the millennial day?

C.A.C. Yes; I think it has to do with what is known on earth by the people of God. It does not quite comprise the heavenly side but takes in the whole economy of grace as enjoyed by the people of God down here, and it has come to us in all the value of the blood of the Christ. It is the blessing side of the fellowship. If we do not know that we shall not go any further. It could not be known before the blood was poured out. When the Lord's supper was instituted at the end of the gospels there was no such thing as the saints blessing the cup; they could not do that. The Lord gave thanks for the cup; He was the only One that could. Not one of those there had any idea what it meant; He was the only One. So it is a wonderful thing that now intelligent persons here on earth can bless the cup; they can do what the disciples then could not do. It is enjoyed in common; there is no variation whatever in the blessing that has come out of the shedding of the blood of Christ. It is the same for Paul as for any poor sinner. It is supposed to characterise the fellowship, to which you are to be true. It is a moral impossibility to drink the cup of demons. Today we have to do with a lot

of things in the world which are idolatrous in character, but we do not want to be diverted by any of these, however nice they may seem.

The new covenant was a familiar thing to the Jew, but future. The Lord sets it in the assembly as a present thing. That is, this entirely new dispensation is to be enjoyed by people on earth. It is the sphere of privilege that we enjoy in the wilderness down here; it does not touch the resurrection of Christ.

Ques. You would not exclude the enjoyment of spiritual things?

C.A.C. But I do distinguish between the enjoyment of spiritual things and the fellowship, which is enjoyed down here. The gift of the Spirit is essential, for how could we bless otherwise? But what you bless is not connected with the Lord's resurrection and ascension, but relates entirely to His death. The more simply we keep to that, the nearer we shall get to God. This fellowship subsists in what speaks of death. It is vitally important to see that because then we move on. We must begin with the cup; it is the thing looked at morally. An entirely new order of things has come to pass here on the earth, enjoyed by people who have a common equal sharing, in this very place, of blessing made known through the pouring out of the blood of Christ.

Anything idolatrous will bring a shadow between me and the blessed God and the knowledge of Him that has come to me through the death of Christ. What is not of God as known in blessing in the death of Christ is diverting. The saints, viewed in the wilderness position, know God in the blessing that has come in in the death of Christ and they respond to it. Well, there is no idolatry there! Every moral question is settled in the value of the blood. There is forgiveness, complete purgation; not one thing is left to hinder believers from enjoying the blessing

in common; and it is all brought about in the value of the blood of Christ. This lays the moral foundation on which we can move on to the new position of our being risen with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places. But if we are not firmly settled on this lower platform we are not likely to touch these higher planes of service.

Ques. What would you say of the body here?

C.A.C. It is the body of Christ in death. The body of Christ brings before us quite a different thought from His blood. It brings before us the moral character of what came out in His body, that is, absolute devotion to the will of God that would not stop short of His death.

We have our fellowship in the first place in the appreciation of that as seen objectively in the loaf. We think first of what comes out in His body, absolute devotion to the will of God and to those who were the subjects of that will, the saints. It does not stop there, for in connection with the thought of the bread he brings us into it. He does not leave it as abstract or objective, because we break it and again, further down it says we all partake of it. We bless the cup. It is not that we handle the cup in this chapter, but we do touch the loaf. The loaf enters into the fellowship as an essential part of it but this scripture suggests the thought that we break and partake of it; we have our part in it. He shows clearly that that which came out in Christ is to have an extension in the saints. Suppose that you could contemplate all the perfections that came out in the body of Christ and felt at the same time that you could never participate in them, you would be the most miserable of all men! Does that not follow morally on the cup? If the knowledge of God comes to you and makes you supremely happy, how could you do anything else but do His will? He says of the new covenant, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days ... : I

will put my law in their inward parts, and will write it in their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them ... for I will pardon their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more", Jeremiah 31:33, 34. (This is also quoted in Hebrews 8:10 - 12). They will delight to do His will, and if this is true of Israel how much more would the saints today do His will, not in heaven, but in this very world where Christ's dead body was?

This is all connected with the Lord's table. We all understand that the Lord's table is the loaf, I suppose. He distinguishes between the Lord's cup and the Lord's table, so the one is the cup and the other is the loaf. It seems to me quite clear that if the Lord has a cup, it is that which He administers, what He ministers to His own. His table is His administration too. He administers to His saints deep spiritual joy, and God as known in connection with His blessing. With the loaf He administers to His saints at His table all that came out in His holy body for the delight and pleasure of God. The table really includes both. The truth of the fellowship should always be deepening in our souls. We may know little of it, but we know enough to set to our seal that it is true.

This is the sphere of the fellowship; it is what we enter into as people living down here. "Ye cannot drink the Lord's cup, and the cup of demons". You cannot possibly have God and the devil at the same time; it is a moral impossibility. And if we allow anything that belongs to the system that gives God no place to enter into us or to govern us, we rob ourselves of the blessing and joy of the fellowship. Worldly links cause us to lose our divine links with our brethren.

Ques. What would you say as to the body here?

C.A.C. He is not thinking of the body here as formed by the Spirit as in chapter 12 but as the body formed morally by the fellowship. It is the saints unified in their appreciation of Christ and in taking character from Christ; it is not the truth of the one body as we speak. If we want to see the will of God worked out, where can we see it livingly but in the body of Christ? Anyone who appreciates that must be committed to the will of God. He administers the joy of the cup and the substantial nourishment of the loaf, so that the saints are formed in His character. If I am doing the will of God and someone else is doing his own will, how could I have fellowship with him? It is what we are down here where we did nothing but sin; in that very place we have presented our bodies to prove "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". One takes up one part of it and another another, and so the will of God is done. There will be no difficulty with the fellowship then. It is all summed up in the verse at the end of this chapter, "Whatever ye do, do all things to God's glory".

In Psalm 16 you see the One who is presented to us in death as the loaf; all those features that marked Him are surely to come out in His own: "Preserve me, O God: for I trust in thee". Do I not want to have part in that, to partake of it in that way? The saints on the earth, the excellent, are His delight. Do I not want to come into that? Do I not want to delight in them? Then how He shrinks from idolatry and delights in God. Now that is the body. We put our hands to that when we take the loaf and we put our hands to that permanently, we might say, not only for about an hour and a half. There is no other way into fellowship but what we have been talking about tonight; there is absolutely no other way.

In the cup we appreciate the rich blessing of God. How

could you go to God and ask Him to bless you more than He has blessed you? You could not possibly do so! As to the moral side, the will of God has been done perfectly in Christ, but then we appropriate it and assimilate it so that it comes out in us. There is no other way of coming into fellowship.

CHAPTER 10, VERSE 23 TO CHAPTER 11, VERSE 16

C.A.C. I suppose the thought in the closing part of the chapter is that Christian liberty must not be used in a way that may be damaging to others. Paul had in mind seeking the profit of others.

Ques. What is the link between this and the previous part of the chapter? Is it liberty?

C.A.C. This section tends to preserve liberty in the minds of the saints. So they were not to ask questions if meat was for sale publicly, whether it was offered to a heathen god in sacrifice before it came there.

Ques. How would this principle apply today?

C.A.C. Well, one might have liberty in one's own conscience that might tend to be damaging to another; if so we surrender our liberty for the good of the one who might be injuriously affected by it.

Divine principles are established and they may come in in a way we might not think of. It is a case here of the beautiful Christian grace of caring for the good of others so that they may be edified or saved. It is not having my own gain in view, but the spiritual gain of others. For instance, if I knew that drink was a temptation to a man I would not have it on the table, though personally I should be free to do so. The apostle brings in the

principle of christian liberty, but alongside that the principle of surrendering liberty if it would be good for another.

Rem. There seem to be three classes in verse 32: "Give no occasion to stumbling, whether to Jews, or Greeks, or the assembly of God".

C.A.C. There are three distinct bodies of people now, and all are to be carefully considered.

Ques. What of the invitation by an unbeliever in verse 27?

C.A.C. Well, what do you make of that?

Ques. What about the Lord being invited into a Pharisee's house?

C.A.C. "If ... ye are minded to go", it says. I suppose it makes for christian liberty. You can go if you want to; he does not commend them for going. Of course in the second epistle when they were further advanced he called them to come out and be separate and touch not the unclean thing. And he says distinctly that there is nothing in common between an unbeliever and a believer. Perhaps they were hardly prepared for that before. It is a great exercise to be invited into an unbeliever's house because if you cannot go there to represent Christ you had better not go. It is a definite exercise.

Rem. Why you were invited is a question.

C.A.C. It is. There are no hard and fast rules laid down. None of us would like to be under a rigid rule. It might be that the Lord was in it.

Ques. Would the fact of the Lord's going into the Pharisee's house bear on it?

C.A.C. Yes. He seems to have gone where He was invited, but He went on His own terms; He never went anywhere on mere social grounds. If the desire that men should be saved is governing us, we can safely go into an unbeliever's house. Of course it supposes that you give

thanks for your food; no christian would think of eating without that, so the christian goes in on his own terms. The model is Christ. That is what it all leads to. "Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ". Christ is the model. That applies to going in to an unbeliever's house; you cannot go in to be on a level with them.

Ques. I suppose all this has in view the preservation from outside conditions on the part of those that form the assembly of God. Is that not the principle?

C.A.C. Verse 31 would adjust every detail, so that we are not to cause offence. The Lord said, "Lest we should offend them", Matthew 17:27. They had no claim; He was the King's Son and yet He worked a miracle that those Jews might not be offended. J.N.D. said once, 'Persons do not take offence if you approach them with a moderate degree of consideration and kindness'. That is, it is well to leave the sledge-hammer behind when you go to an unbeliever's house.

Ques. What would the ordinances be that he refers to in chapter 11?

C.A.C. I think he had communicated to them the truths of christianity and certain instructions how to behave, and they had in measure carried them out, so that he could praise them accordingly. We need instruction and chapter 11 is very important for us, as bringing before us the order that is suitable to God. They evidently had not understood before that Christ is Head of every man. Elsewhere he says, "Know ye not ...", but here he says, "I wish you to know ...", showing that they did not know. And does it not lie at the very root of assembly order? "Christ is the head of every man". That does not include women. The whole point of the early part of chapter 11 is the difference between the man and the woman, and this is to be publicly recognised. It is a matter of public order in the assembly, and, of course,

privately too.

Rem. The headship of Christ in Romans 5 is rather different; He is Head of the race.

C.A.C. Yes, that takes in the whole human family. God has brought in a new Head for man, and that should be preached in the gospel more than it is.

Rem. There are three heads in this chapter, Christ and man and God.

C.A.C. It is sometimes thought that this chapter bears particularly on the woman, but I think it bears very much on the man. He begins, "I wish you to know that the Christ is the head of every man". It is for every man to take note of, particularly men who are in the assembly of God.

Ques. Is it always true?

C.A.C. The difference between the man and the woman is always true, and the relative position between the man and the woman is always true; it has to be recognised especially where praying and prophesying are in question.

Ques. How would a woman prophesy?

C.A.C. This scripture clearly supposes that she will. There are prophetesses in Scripture and it is possible to prophesy without being a prophetess. It means speaking for God; sisters ought perhaps to be more exercised as to doing that, speaking definitely for God. It is clearly not in the assembly because the same epistle says that women are to keep silent in the assembly.

A woman must be covered, so a sister would not think of going to see a sick person or anyone to whom she was going to speak of God without having her head covered. It is part of the divine order. And the man has to keep his head uncovered. No man on earth is entitled to move or to speak without reference to Christ. We can see in the Lord what it means; He was a perfect Man who had a

Head. He said, "I have set Jehovah continually before me" (Psalm 16:8); that is, He always lived in reference to God as His Head. No man is right on the earth until he lives in reference to Christ. He is Head of every man by divine appointment, even if men know nothing about it.

It is good to get a very comprehensive view of Christ. What an immense field He covers! He is Head of every man and He is willing to occupy the position in a real and practical way. If Christ is not Head for us as in Romans 5 there is no hope for us. Adam brought in sin and gave no way of escape, but then God has brought in a new Head. Adam is not the head of all men, Christ is; He has met the pressure of sin and death which every man in this world is under, for however jovial he may be he sees no way out of it.

The recognition of Christ as Head is how we get wisdom to move in relation to God, and it would bear especially on the service of the assembly. No man is entitled to take any part in the assembly except in so far as he recognises Christ as his Head. And if this is so it will be a very suitable thing for the women to recognise the headship of the man. It is only as the men recognise the headship of Christ that they will be able to appear in the image and glory of God. The woman is not that; she is the glory of the man. It is a fixed position, not a changeable or optional matter at all. It is a fixed position appointed by God. Christ looked to God for everything; His ear was wakened morning by morning so that He might speak a word to him that was weary.

Ques. Would you say that we see it objectively in Christ?

C.A.C. Yes, that is helpful. We see the real character of it in Christ. Every believing man is to look up to Christ as Head, just as Christ did to God. If I do I get the gain of Christ as my Head. I should act nicely and suitably and

in a comely way in the assembly or in service. There is no other way. It is an individual matter; it is not a collective thing.

We cannot doubt that there was a very great lack of what the apostle wished at Corinth, or these disorders would never have existed. The public order of the assembly would be beautiful if this came about. Some would be astonished that a meeting for worship could be carried on without a chairman. A meeting for worship can only be carried on on the principle that every man is holding Christ as Head and is directed by that. If not, it has no spiritual value. If it were so, we should not have any jolts. What dignity it puts on the men, that the brothers have a relation to Christ which the sisters have not!

Rem. There is "holding fast the head" in Colossians.

C.A.C. That is the spiritual and universal side, but this is the side of assembly order, what we can see and hear, the public side -- the wilderness side of the position, as we often say.

CHAPTER 11 VERSES 17 - 34

C.A.C. It is noticeable that the apostle clothes both the man and the woman with glory before he speaks of the coming together of the saints. The whole chapter down to verse 16 is to develop the glory of the man and the woman.

Ques. What is the bearing of that on what follows?

C.A.C. I suppose it supplies a correction for the disorder that had come in at Corinth.

Ques. Is it the full height of the divine standard put before the saints?

C.A.C. Yes, as regards conditions here in the created scene. It is the assembly as it is in the created scene which normally comes together for the taking of the Supper; so that all that is suited to God in the creation must be there, each brother and sister bringing glory. There was a lack of it at Corinth. The divine thought is that the customs of the assembly are glorious and each member of the assembly is to contribute glory. Man has the glory of his created position in the assembly without diminution and woman has her own distinctive glory as filling her assigned place according to her created position. Everything has its place, not only according to divine commandments but divine instructions also.

Rem. The assembly is the only place where divine order is seen under the eye of God.

C.A.C. What is suitable in the created sphere ought to be intuitive to us. "Judge in yourselves", he says. 'You ought to know that intuitively; you ought not to need any scripture for it'. The man must stand in the knowledge of Christ as Head and the woman must stand in the knowledge that man is her head; then things are in order in the created sphere.

Ques. In Ephesians it speaks of the all-various wisdom of God being made known through the assembly; is that what you have in your mind?

C.A.C. Yes, and it says distinctly that it is because of the angels that women are to be covered, not because men are present, but because angels are present.

There are certain things we ought to know intuitively and should not need to be told. Shem and Japheth knew what was comely in connection with their father, Noah; but Ham lacked in intuitive knowledge, and Canaan came under the curse in consequence. Faith, especially, ought to have intuitive knowledge, and does that not provide the conditions for coming together? There was a

sad lack of glory at Corinth; they even came together for the worse! The brothers and sisters should each bring glory with them; if not, they become a shame and a reproach instead of a pleasure to divine Persons.

Ques. Would you explain the difference between 'intuitive' and 'instinctive'?

C.A.C. Intuitive means that it is intelligent. An animal may have instinct but human beings in their proper glory have intuition. It belongs to the creature position.

Headship was soon surrendered. If Eve had been holding Adam as head she would never have parleyed with the serpent. Adam lost headship too. The first element of divine recovery is the truth of headship, so that we find it at the beginning of the chapter. Assembling together at Corinth only brought out discord and divisions.

I suppose the greatest truth of Scripture is the headship of God; that has been fully owned by one blessed anointed Man. So we find that at Corinth they had given up the Lord's supper. The apostle had delivered it to them as it had been delivered to him, and they had quite turned away from it. Each was eating his own supper, it says. I suppose it was actually the working of Satan to set aside all that had been ministered to them by the apostle. And that goes on all the time, so now we have to be recalled to what is very fundamental. The Lord's supper in itself is one of the simplest things in Scripture; it has a claim on the affections of all who give the Lord a place of honour in their hearts that nothing else could have.

Ques. Would taking the Supper wrongly be virtually a refusal of headship?

C.A.C. It had not its place at Corinth. We cannot say a great deal about the place it has with us, perhaps. It was evidently the Lord's pleasure that His saints should come together. It is not referred to before except in chapter 5. He had not referred to their normal coming together.

The Lord has pleasure in unifying His saints actually in coming together. There is no such thing as an invisible church. They are actually unified in calling the Lord to mind. We come together to have it as a reality. We desire to escape from what is individual and merge in what is the common portion of all. There is a material act in which we are unified. That act, if rightly carried on, unifies us spiritually, because if there are fifty hearts calling the Lord to mind they must be one.

Ques. Would the bringing of this to pass be effected by the Lord or the Head?

C.A.C. In the first place by the Lord. It is the Lord's supper; "the Lord" is so many times mentioned in these verses. It was the Lord who, on the very verge of that solemn hour, "your hour and the power of darkness", found comfort in that myriads of saints would come together for the purpose of calling Him to mind. It is very touching. It is made available to any one who confesses Jesus as Lord, even though one may be very small and feeble, and, like the Corinthians, tinged with carnality. If it is rightly availed of we shall become qualified for divine service. The bread qualifies us for service to the Lord and the cup for service to God; and both services will be secured if we rightly eat the Supper.

Ques. How would you distinguish the services?

C.A.C. There are hymns addressed to the Lord -- there is a place for them; and to the Father -- there must be a place for them; also to God -- there is a place for them. The Supper rightly eaten would qualify us for every part of the divine service. Nothing so gratifies the affections of the saints as acknowledging the lordship of Christ. It is the body and blood of the Lord. We are affected even by looking at the bread and the cup. The Lord -- it is the supreme One, the Lord in supremacy. And it is wonderful that His supremacy in love has come out in His giving

up His body in manhood and His blood being poured out. It is the Lord's body and the Lord's blood. There is what is due to Him in taking on His title of Lord. He is asserting in it His title as to what is due to Him, that all His saints take His supper rightly, for He is asserting the claim of His love. Tens of thousands of saints do not think it is at all an obligatory thing, but indeed it is! The Lord has not asserted many claims in detail on His saints, very few in fact, but He has asserted a claim to a material act for a few moments once a week. Well, if so, woe betide the lover of His who disregards it! I think that is why the title of Lord is emphasised -- it is a claim of His love. It is such a delightful claim; we might say indeed that His commandment is not grievous. It is an invitation to come into the greatest blessedness, if even only for one minute, in the greatest sphere. It is like going to heaven!

Ques. May we call the Lord to mind when alone?

C.A.C. I hope very many of us have had many thoughts of the Lord today. But then this calling to mind is a collective calling to mind, so if we say, 'Christ died for thee' that is the service individualised. A saint is to take it up in company with his brethren. It cannot be done as an individual; otherwise it is very like what he says here, "each one in eating takes his own supper". You eat bread and drink the cup; it is a material act with tremendous spiritual import behind it! So there is no such thing as an individual eating the Supper alone; you must eat it along with others who eat it.

Rem. The 'breaking of bread' is what you might call a technical term to describe the occasion.

C.A.C. It is wonderful to think that the Lord was pleased to do this! He "took bread, and having given thanks broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me". This simple material

act has been enjoined on us as a material act. It speaks of His own body as laid in death. You must remember it was the Creator, the Almighty God, "from eternity to eternity". He has been pleased to come into manhood and take on all that was to be done that was pleasing to God. In His body He took it all on. Then in His devotion to God and to His saints He laid it down in death. Every christian is under obligation to say, 'There is none like Him'. The youngest and feeblest believer can delight in what came out in that body -- His body.

Ques. Would you say what the difference is between Luke where the Lord says, "This is my body which is given for you", and Corinthians where it is simply, "which is for you"?

C.A.C. I think that the difference is that in the gospel it is more historical; it is the fact that His body is given; while in the epistle, where the Lord speaks as gloried, He left out the fact of giving His body, but all that came out in His body lying in death is for the saints.

Ques. Would it be possible to break bread without eating the Supper?

C.A.C. That supposes a very careless state of heart. We do not like to think of anybody doing it otherwise than as answering to the claim of the Lord's love, do we?

It is very touching to think that it should be given, as it were a second time, to a company who had departed from it and violated its character. It is most touching, because Paul had given it to them all when he was amongst them, and now again he gives it as if given from a glorified Lord. If we understand that His holy body has been devoted in death for the assembly, it necessitates that the assembly should be for Him. No other company of saints will ever eat the Lord's supper as far as we know. It puts the saints into the position of the spouse, the wife, which leads to the part of the service where wifely affections for

the Lord are expressed. If we understand that all that came out in that holy body was devoted in love for the assembly in death, it leads to a response in love so sweet and wondrous. So in the Song of Songs the spouse expresses her appreciation of Him, and that naturally follows out of the Supper. Why should anyone wish to do it if he does not regard the Lord with affection? Then there is also the cup which is linked with the loaf. That brings in another order of things.

Ques. Do the words, "in like manner" refer to the giving of thanks?

C.A.C. I think so.

Ques. Why are thanks given for the bread first and then separately for the cup? They are not given for both together.

C.A.C. I think they are separated in divine wisdom; both, of course, refer directly to the Lord's death, which is most important to understand. The loaf would clearly secure on the part of the saints that part of the service addressed to the Lord Himself. As to the cup, we are looking at the Lord's death in a new setting which lays the basis for the service Godward; it is the basis for it. It is evident that there was such a thing spoken of as a new covenant which would be consummated. The Lord came in to set up that new covenant in a way that the Old Testament had not spoken of, and that His own had not thought of. That is, He came to set it up in the power of His own blood. It was, I suppose, what was effected on God's part, so He effects, as God's representative, all that was bound up in the new covenant, and He effects it in the power of His own blood. It is a question now of God moving to bring about a state of things pleasing to Himself. God is moving in new covenant character to lay a righteous basis for all His thoughts of blessing for man, His sinful creature.

Ques. What would you say as to the terms of the new covenant?

C.A.C. There is something here greater than the terms of the new covenant. You cannot have 'terms' with His blood; you must leave them out. God wants man for Himself -- a people -- that is the great thought, and He says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and will write it in their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people ... for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them ... and their sin will I remember no more", Jeremiah 31:33, 34. God does all that; He effects new birth in the power of the blood of Christ; He could not effect new birth without that.

Rem. It says in Hebrews 9:12 that He "by his own blood, has entered in".

C.A.C. It is very wonderful, but the new covenant hardly goes as far as entering in. It brings you to know God so that you are responsive, and to know that every question of sin and lawlessness is disposed of. There is the total clearance of every question of moral responsibility that could be raised with us, and that is as creatures down here. Jesus was great enough to bring God in so that He should be known; but apart from His death, His blood shedding, we could not have known Him.

We see God moving in the new covenant. The offerings gave the knowledge of sin. The sacrifices were a "calling to mind" (the only other place where the same word is used is Hebrews 10:3) of sins; the people were reminded that they were there. But in the new covenant God has disposed of their sins and lawlessnesses and given the people a knowledge of Himself as according to His own nature. The Lord has the glory of all that; it has been secured in His death. We remember the living One who is in the presence of God, who once lay in death, the One who is now invested with the glory of all that He has

accomplished in His death. We call Him to mind as He is. If you think of an absent person you think of them as they are now, not as they were many years ago. Now He is in the glory of God invested in the glory of all He effected when He lay in death.

Rem. F.E.R. said that it is not a remembrance, but an active calling to mind.

C.A.C. If we call Him to mind as He is now we should be very glad if He came in now; what He wants is a company so unified that He can come into their midst.

CHAPTER 11 VERSES 17 - 34

It is important to notice that the Supper is connected with our corning together in assembly. In verses 17 and 18 Paul says that "ye come together, not for the better, but for the worse. For first, when ye come together in assembly, I hear there exist divisions among you", and in verse 20, "When ye come therefore together into one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For each one in eating takes his own supper before others". It clearly shows that the Supper would be in connection with the coming together, but it suggests that the coming together of saints might not be suitable to the Supper. The saints, as a matter of fact, did come together at Corinth but they came together most unsuitably and divisions existed which were manifested even when they came together. The Supper is introduced to correct all that, so that the saints might come together in divine unity. The object, the primary object, of the Supper, is that the saints might be together in divine and spiritual unity, and only thus can they have the true character of the assembly of God.

Paul addresses them as the assembly of God in Corinth at the outset, but he also speaks of some as despising the assembly of God; in the very way they were coming together they were despising the assembly of God. There were divisions, and then each one was eating his own supper; things were being taken up entirely, and even publicly, in an individual way. Surely these things in their moral application are not to be limited to Corinth. Many of those who think they are eating the Lord's supper are really eating their own supper, that is, they take what they call the 'Sacrament' or the 'Holy Communion', but they take it entirely on an individual basis, though it may be with a grateful and affectionate sense that the Lord has died for them -- they delight to think of that; but it is more what the Lord has done for them that is before them, and if what the Lord has done for me is the prominent thought in my mind, I am not eating the Lord's supper, I am eating my own supper. The Lord's supper is divinely intended to bring the saints together. We cannot eat the Lord's supper alone because it is a collective matter; we have fellowship. If we all partake of one loaf and one cup, it is a collective matter. The Lord's supper stands connected with Paul's ministry. Paul says emphatically, I received from the Lord". The twelve, one might say, received it of the Lord in the days of His flesh, but Paul was the only one who received it from the Lord as risen and glorified. He says, I received from the Lord"; the Lord gave it to Paul in connection with his ministry in regard to the assembly. It is the centre, the true rallying point of the assembly of God; and it raises a question with every one of us as to whether we are, in our souls, on the ground of the assembly of God which gives the Lord's supper the central place, or whether we are on sectarian ground. Some of those at Corinth were on sectarian ground; although they were actually all coming

together, yet there were sects amongst them. Some of them were sectarian; there were divisions among them; there was not unity even when they came together. There was a lack of spiritual unity, and the apostle is seeking to adjust it, or rather the Lord is seeking to adjust it, by giving the Supper its proper place.

The Lord's supper would revive the affections of the saints and so centralise them on certain divine objects that there would not be a jarring note in the assembly. It is just as effective today as ever it was. The power of what is presented here is as great as it was when Paul penned it. The conditions of disorder at the present time are not so manifest as they were then, and if it sufficed to adjust things then, it would suffice today. You can meet the Lord individually in your own room, but to meet the Lord in the company of the saints, to meet Him in the assembly of God, we must see the Lord's way to form and mould our affections. The Supper is the Lord's way, the way of divine love, to mould and form our affections so that we might be together without a jarring note, without any disorder, that we might be together as the assembly of God. If there had been any better means of securing what the Lord desires than the Supper, He would have used them. The fact that the Lord has taken this simple means (nothing could be more simple outwardly, nothing more profound inwardly and spiritually) in the wisdom of His love shows that there is no better way. There is no better way of moulding the spiritual affections of saints and putting them together in spiritual unity than the Lord's supper.

"This is my body, which is for you". You could not limit that "you". It is as wide as the love of Christ. It embraces every saint on the face of the earth, or more practically put, it embraces every saint in the town where we live.

The Supper is the peculiar portion of the assembly; no other family will eat the Lord's supper. The saints who succeed us, the remnant of Israel, may take up some memorial of Passover character, but I do not think they will take up the Lord's supper because the Lord's supper is connected with the body. It is connected with that peculiar and distinctive truth which marks off the assembly from all other families of saints which went before and which will come after. What marks off the church period and the church saints is "one body", and the Supper is connected with one body. I do not think any saint ever did or ever will eat the Lord's supper but those who are of the one body. There is nothing that we have to cherish with more jealous and holy affection than the Lord's supper. The devil has done his utmost to rob the people of God of the Supper; he has made it sacramental; he has made it into a religious ceremony or a means of grace; he has taken away its true character. It is helpful to see that the matter is presented in three different aspects in this chapter; it is spoken of as a remembrance, as an announcement, and with regard to the responsibility that attaches to eating and drinking. These three things are separate but we have to remember that what is for the Lord is the remembrance. That is for the Lord and, therefore, the remembrance has the first place. He says, "This do in remembrance of me". The remembrance is for the Lord; the announcement is for the world.

In Luke there is the thought of "remembrance" but there is no "remembrance" in Mark or in Matthew. It is important to see that. In Mark it is, "Take", and in Matthew He says, "Take, eat". Now those are very important things, but they are not the remembrance. We reach Luke by way of Mark and Matthew. "Take" is the appropriating to ourselves of all the import which the Lord put upon the loaf. Matthew and Mark tell us that

He blessed the bread; it looks at the Lord on the divine side, and the Lord blesses the bread; He clothed it with a spiritual import which no other loaf in this world ever had. Now in Mark He says, "Take". Each saint has to know what it is to "take" the loaf, to lay hold of it in our affections in all the import that the Lord has clothed it with. Then in Matthew He goes further; He not only says, "Take" but "eat". Our very constitution is to be formed by the import of this loaf. He says, 'You are to eat it'. What a wonderful character it would give us if we really took and ate spiritually what the Lord would express to us in the loaf, that is, His own body! If we have taken it and eaten it we shall become the kind of people who could come together according to Luke. If we have learned individually to take it up on the line of Mark and Matthew it would prepare us to take it up as a remembrance. In Luke it is a remembrance. There is a remembrance of the Lord in unity, a remembrance of church character, something quite different from anything that we can take up individually. We can think of the Lord in our own chamber, we can retire with the Bible, or bow our knees in prayer, or occupy ourselves in meditation; we can talk to Him adoringly, we can remember Him individually. But then, what the Lord wants is assembly remembrance; He wants this peculiar character of remembrance which only the assembly can give Him. The Lord views the assembly as great enough to answer to His own love for it. He loves the assembly; He gave Himself for it. He has given His body to be the portion of the assembly, to be the nourishment of the assembly's affections.

I think that at Corinth they had ceased to give the Lord His place as Head, and it is very remarkable that when we come to the Supper as in Luke's gospel and as in Corinthians, the Lord seems to present Himself to us as

Head. I think He is seen as Lord in Matthew and Mark (it is in connection with the loaf I am speaking now particularly) for He blesses the bread; but in Luke He gives thanks for it, and in Corinthians He gives thanks. Now when the Lord gives thanks He is viewed as on our side; He has taken a place on man's side if He gives thanks. So that it is really the Lord as Head who presents the Supper to us; so that we can understand why the truth of headship comes in at the beginning of this chapter, because if the Lord gives thanks for the bread and for the cup He has come to our side. It is important to distinguish between the Lord blessing and giving thanks. As blessing He is on God's side -- He is Lord. He is authoritatively, as Lord; clothing the bread with a new and spiritual import. He says, 'It is My body'. But when He gives thanks He is on our side, so that we take up the Lord's supper in the light of His headship.

It is a great exercise with me to get at what was in the Lord's mind when He instituted the Supper. If we could see what was in the Lord's mind and in His heart when He instituted the Supper, it would have a wonderful regulative and formative effect when we come together. We are to come together for the remembrance. Let us think of this: the remembrance is for the Lord. It is not for us, it is for the Lord. He says, "This do in remembrance of me". The remembrance is connected both with breaking the bread and with drinking the cup. The brother who breaks the bread is rendering a precious service amongst the brethren and, as doing it in the serving spirit of Christ, he would suggest Christ in the very way that he does it. The Lord was there at that supper table. He says, "I am in the midst of you as the one that serves", Luke 22:27. Now if the brother who breaks the bread does not do it in serving love he would not convey any impression of what the Supper really means.

But the whole service is of assembly character. All of us break bread; the saints come together to break bread, so that the thing is looked at as an act of the assembly -- we do it. But then, it recalls the Lord. It is a great exercise really to know what was in the Lord's mind when He instituted the Supper and to bring the impression of that into the meeting so that there might be a breaking of bread in which the Lord shall be recognised. "He was made known to them in the breaking of bread", Luke 24:35. Whilst that was not exactly the Supper it was a figure of His death, and one would desire that when the Supper is eaten every soul present might recognise the Lord. Sometimes we bring in many thoughts which are not exactly what the Lord would suggest to us, and we do not allow Him to mould our affections in His own way. The Lord has His own way of moulding assembly affections and that way is by the Supper, and the more simple we are in taking up what the Lord suggests to us in it the nearer we shall get to His heart and the more truly shall we remember Him. It is only as we get into the thoughts of His love that we have the Person before us. He says, 'Remember Me'. He wants to fill our affections with Himself, known in this blessed way. There is nothing in heaven or earth like the Supper. It is a concentrated appeal of divine love to us and it enshrines every moving influence that the Lord could present to us in order to mould our affections. Think of the greatness of His saying, "This is my body"! How immense it is if we think of who He is! He is the Son, a Person of the Godhead; He is a Man, but Jehovah's Fellow! He would have us to think of the wonderfulness of the Person who has come in flesh -- a divine Person! It is no reaching out to something that He had no title to. It was His by right; and it is such a Person as that who came in a human body prepared for Him. He came down from heaven to bring the good

pleasure of God, all that was of delight to heaven, into this world in His own Person. It is all wrapped up in, "This is my body". That word enshrines the whole truth of the incarnation. The delights of God are not confined to heaven; they have come forth into this world in that body -- the full delight of God in a Man! And all the thoughts of God in regard to the blessing of man were secured in Him.

We need to withdraw ourselves into seclusion of heart to ponder the greatness of this. And when we come together the Lord would withdraw the assembly into the seclusion of the Supper that we may ponder it afresh together. The Lord would say, as it were, 'It is in this way I would mould your remembrance of Me. What I delight in, My peculiar joy, is that you should remember Me in assembly character, and I take this way to mould you into the kind of remembrance that will suit My heart'. One might say, 'Jesus is my Saviour; I delight to think of Him as my Saviour'. Well, the Lord appreciates that; but it is not the kind of remembrance which would satisfy Him from the assembly. It is most wonderful to think that such a Person, having come in such a body into this world, would go into death, would give His body in death, in order that the assembly might be secured for all that is the pleasure and delight of divine love.

CHAPTER 11 VERSES 23 - 26

We might have read from Luke's gospel which corresponds almost exactly with what we get here, but I thought it might be well to look at it as our own apostle received it and delivered it to us. We have, in the

corresponding scriptures in Mark and Matthew, what the Lord did, how He blessed the bread and gave thanks for the cup. The Lord was pleased to put a very special significance on that bread and that cup, a moral and spiritual import. That must come first. We must apprehend the import of what He said, and appropriate what He puts within our reach in His body and His blood. We must understand that first.

Now we have before us what we do: "This do". He calls upon His own to do something. Twice over He says, "This do". One feels how touching it is that He should have given us something to do, not at all in the way of works, but He has given us a certain material act to do for the calling of Him to mind. It is suggested by love and it appeals to love. He says, "This do". I have no doubt it is intended to bring together and keep together the company of those who love Him. It is nothing to those who do not love Him. If it is not an affectionate remembrance it is nothing. The whole act constitutes remembrance. Giving thanks, breaking the bread, eating and drinking is all one act: "This do". It indicates the deep personal affection of the Lord. His heart yearned and still yearns to have a very definite place with us. The act -- doing the act -- calls Him to mind. The same word is used in Hebrews 10:3 where the Spirit of God tells us of the yearly "calling to mind of sins". The act of bringing the sacrifices called to mind the sins of the whole year that was past. This act which we do in eating the Lord's supper calls the Lord to mind. The act brings that Person to mind. The Lord has been most gracious in His love in giving us a material and tangible act. There is no such thing as eating the Lord's supper spiritually. The act and the material symbols, though having a spiritual import, call Him to mind. It is the way of infinite, divine wisdom. It is very simple but it secures the presence of the

assembly as constituted by this material act. The Lord is calling all His own to the remembrance of Himself. There is special grace from the Lord to be counted on. He will furnish the grace to His lovers to do it, to do it in the way the Lord intended it to be done in order to have the results He intended. When we come together the remembrance is the first thing before us. It is the first thing in the mind of the Lord. He wants to be called to mind. We lose the sweetness of that sometimes by having other things before us, such as the presence of the Lord amongst us, the enjoyment of assembly privileges or the wonderful place of the assembly with Christ before His God and Father, but that is not remembrance. I do not think we shall reach or enjoy the Lord's presence or His leading in His assembly if we do not start with the remembrance. The effect of having the emblems before us is that it gives concentration to every mind. Perfect unity of mind in assembly is brought about by the concentration of every mind on what we have come to do: "This do". Every mind is concentrated on the Lord Jesus. We are going to do something, a certain act that will call the Lord to mind. The emblems concentrate our thoughts on Christ at one particular moment -- not Christ after the flesh. We do not forget the beauty of that:

'O who shall sing that path of worth,
That led up to the throne?' (Hymn 57)

But the emblems do not call us to think of Him after the flesh but in death. Christ in death! Beloved brethren, the Lord loves to be called to mind in that supreme moment when His love and the love of God found full expression as He gave Himself for the assembly. It was never to be repeated; it was a moment and an act adequate to give expression to all in the heart of Christ and of God. What an appeal to our hearts! Everything has come from there, and all will come from there, from that

point. Our minds are concentrated on that point where everything blessed was concentrated, all in the heart of Christ and God, His body given and His blood poured out having the new covenant in it. We come to the source of all our blessing. Through all eternity we shall have nothing greater to look back to than the death of Christ. It is the greatest thing in the moral universe. The memorials secure the calling to mind of Christ, for those who take it up.

We get, as to the night in which He was delivered up, the contrast in Luke between what was occupying the Lord when instituting the Supper and what was passing amongst the disciples -- "Moreover, behold, the hand of him that delivers me up is with me on the table" (Luke 22:21) -- the wretchedness of the disciples' ambitions, desires, and Peter's boasting! (verses 24 - 34). We need to have that in mind. How do we come together? Is it with a sense in our hearts that the Lord is not here, that it is the place and time of His delivering up? He is not here and that makes the appeal so sweet and tender to our hearts to call Him to mind until He come. It is Himself, for the calling of Him to mind (see note to verse 24). It is not to remember how we are blessed! We are blessed and enriched and filled up in Christ, but that is not the remembrance. All is concentrated in Him as having gone into death. If you have the attraction of the emblems on the one hand, you have in all that is outside the elements to drive us together. We have to feel as we move about that the Lord is not here and is not wanted here, but we love Him. He can do anything with a company that call Him to mind. We prove what the Lord can do with a few who call Him to mind! Remembrance is the key to the subject but it is not the end.

We have previously seen that in immediate connection with the Supper the Lord called attention to the joy

which He had had with His own. They were to His heart as the fruit of the vine. He had spoken of that joy being resumed under entirely new conditions. Did they ever forget that? We need to leave a lot of room in our minds for the consideration of that. A draught of wine, a sweet cordial to His heart, companionship with His own on earth -- "With desire I have desired ..." It was the last act in a companionship full of sweetness to the heart of the Lord. The Lord indicated to them that that pleasure was to be continued in a new way in the kingdom of God after His death and resurrection. The disciples could never forget the Lord saying that! They had realised that the Lord had delight in them. "My delights were with the sons of men" Proverbs 8:31; "To the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent thou hast said, In them is all my delight", Psalm 16:3. It was the wine of His soul, the companionship of His brethren. Has the Lord lost the desire for that? The Lord coupled the two things together, knowing and doing, when speaking to His disciples for the last time, John 13:17. The Lord gives a sense all through those chapters of how He loved His own. The conviction, intense conviction of it, was borne in upon them, and is now upon our hearts. "I go to prepare you a place; and ... I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be", John 14:2, 3. Love must have the company of the loved objects; it is the desire of love. The presence of the Lord in the midst of His own is not merely privilege for us but joy for the Lord! His own joy brings Him into the midst of His own. When christians respond to "This do" they form a circle; the centre is the remembrance. On the table there is the loaf and the cup; that is the centre, the remembrance; it brings the saints together and they form the circle. In Mark 3:20 and 32 - 35, the Lord is the centre in the house and He is "looking around in a circuit

at those that were sitting around him". All were doing the will of God. The supreme will of God is that we should be in right relation with Christ. The Lord's supper reconstitutes the circle. The circle of Mark 3 was broken in on by His death, but now the Lord's supper reconstitutes the circle. His love brings Him; His own pleasure brings Him there. "Ye have heard that I have said unto you, I go away and I am coming to you", John 14:28. Supreme fact! The Lord loves to come in, and where the calling to mind has been He loves to come Himself. The will of God is that every lover of Christ should find his or her place there in that circle. "I am coming to you" is characteristic of the whole period during which the world would see Him no longer. It is a great spiritual reality that the Lord comes to take His place in that circle which has been reconstituted by calling Him to mind. "If ye love me, keep my commandments ... I am coming to you", John 14:15 - 18. The condition really is that we keep His commandments. If we have found our place in that circle and partake of the Supper to call Him to mind the conditions are there. You prove yourself (1 Corinthians 11:28) as a subject of self-judgment and you are there to think of another Person. It works weekly. The Lord gave suggestions. He "came and stood in the midst" on two first days of the week (John 20:19, 26). Later it is recorded of the saints at Troas, "And the first day of the week, we being assembled to break bread" (Acts 20:7); the circle is reconstituted afresh and His delight brings Him there. The circle comes into evidence; the church is not invisible. That will never do! The expression 'the invisible church' was first made use of after corruption had set in. The Lord's supper is not invisible nor the company who eat it. That is the visible church! The Lord comes because of the joy He has in the companionship of His brethren. It

is not a pitying and compassionate love like giving something to a poor beggar. We can say to the Lord, 'Here we are for Thee to delight in'. He comes in joy and He comes to sing. The bread and the cup are clothed with a spiritual significance and His joy is in His own. "And having sung a hymn" is the indication of a spiritual course. He comes in to sing! When He comes in He comes in to sing, not to rebuke nor to teach; He comes in joy. It is His real delight to come. He comes with delight. We get no example of the Lord singing in resurrection, but it is prophetically announced in Psalm 22:22, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee". It is after the sorrows of atonement and the "horns of the buffaloes", after the whole work of glorifying God is completed. Our special title to it is in "I will confess to thee among the nations, and will sing to thy name", Romans 15:9. The word translated 'sing' means in the original that the singer sings to a musical accompaniment, that there is a musical instrument to accompany him: "To the chief Musician. On my stringed instruments", Habakkuk 3:19. Think of the assembly as the accompanying and responsive instrument! There is nothing to hinder the Lord from delighting His own heart with His own now. There is a tuned instrument to respond in accord with His singing. It is perfectly delightful.

The apostle could not say all he wanted to say to the Corinthians but he starts the saints on a line that will carry them into the blessedness of everything. The way into it is by way of the Supper. The truth of the Supper after nineteen centuries is restored to us: do not let us miss all that is contained in it.

We see, firstly, the Lord secures everything for us; secondly, joy is secured for Christ; and thirdly, everything is secured for God. Then we come to the mount of

Olives. We move up into all the blessedness of what is heavenly: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", John 20:17. It leads us from the light of Matthew and Mark, intelligence as to the spiritual import of what the Lord did, on to the remembrance in Luke, a place for the Lord secured for Him to come to. Who can limit the blessing then? We cannot tell or prescribe what shall be if the Lord comes in as Head!

CHAPTER 11 VERSES 26 - 34

C.A.C. The truth is brought forward in this epistle in a corrective way. The saints at Corinth had evidently drifted quite away from what the apostle had communicated to them after a short time. This was evidenced by the want of unity amongst them. They were not really calling the Lord to mind; they were not giving His death the place which it rightly claimed.

Nothing has such unifying power as the Lord's supper. The memorials are symbolical of His death, so that in eating and drinking we do not announce the Lord in His life here, nor in His risen life; we announce the Lord's death. It is important that we should call the Lord to mind in connection with what came out in His death, because it is the greatest expression of His love. He will never again give such expression to His love as He did when He went into death. But the love that was expressed then remains livingly in Himself; so when He says, "In remembrance of me" it is Himself as having gone to heaven.

"Until he come" would fill up the whole period. He is coming, that is the great objective in view; but until He

comes there is this public act which has a voice. It is what we do; "For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord". It has a public voice; it speaks of the Lord's death. I do not think the point is quite to whom it is announced, but it is announced. It is the public object in view on God's part and it is continuously announced as long as the assembly is here. It is the importance of what is announced, the Lord's death. The question is, 'What is the voice?' not, 'Who hears it?' This act which the Corinthians had debased and degraded until it ceased to be the Lord's supper at all has an important voice. Nothing is more important than that the Lord's death should be witnessed in this world. It is the greatest and most wondrous thing in eternity; there is never going to be in eternity anything so wonderful as the Lord's death.

It brings out here the importance of the Supper and the importance of the public side of the Supper. There are two sides. There is the calling of the Lord to mind; that is internal. Then announcing the Lord's death is a public voice and that voice is heard in a powerful manner. The point is not whether there are any to hear it or not but 'What is the voice?' The voice is the Lord's death. Whatever the number may be who announce it does not alter the character of the voice. Of course it is supposed that the whole assembly does it. It is very pleasing to God that that death should be announced, and it is by a material act; it is a material, not a spiritual, thing.

There are only two institutions of a material character in Christianity, baptism and the Lord's supper. One is initial, that is, at the beginning, but both have reference to the death of Christ, and everything public must of necessity have reference to the Lord's death. By far the greatest thing that happened on the earth is His death, and baptism is the public sign of persons being identified

with it. It is so also in the Lord's supper. We are so apt to be occupied with the resurrection and ascension side that we are liable to lose sight of the Lord's death. It is really when the Lord comes that there will be the most wonderful testimony to His death. Nobody then will be able to question that He is the One who died! It is set out in a detailed way here to call attention to the public and material character of the act; therefore doing it worthily is an essential matter.

Ques. The great intent in the Supper is to announce that Christ has died on the earth, would you say?

C.A.C. Exactly; that is what the world has to do with, the death of Christ. There was no calling Him to mind when He instituted the Supper; He was there. But now He is absent. He died and through death He has gone to the Father, and we know Him there in a way it was not possible to know Him in the days of His flesh. We must take note of that; we are far better off than they were then. In the days of His flesh neither Peter nor John had any idea that His love was so great that it would take Him into death. If we call the absent One to mind, all that was expressed in His death lives now in Himself, and the love in which He went into death now lives in His heart. He is no longer in death but is the living One, the One we may expect to come to us. We must remember that all that He said and did was founded on His death; none of it would have been possible apart from that. Now we know this great accomplished fact that He has been into death. All the love that was expended in His death lives in His own heart this minute.

Here Paul is speaking to establish in their hearts the great fact that the Lord died, for they were having a sort of love feast and not thinking of the Lord at all. The Lord's death has brought out His full devotion to the assembly; nothing can be added to that; and it has

brought out the blessedness in which the saints stand as having part in the new covenant.

Rem. The Hebrew bondman seems to fit here.

C.A.C. Very beautifully. The Supper has in view the assembly as a company of persons down here in this world, in the wilderness position, understanding how the Lord has devoted Himself in love to them so as to awaken wifely affections towards Himself. That is the setting. And there is the blessedness of the new covenant as known to the assembly. He has brought it into the assembly before it has its application to Judah and Israel. There is a company of persons, in the very place where they were converted, in the good of the new covenant, so that there is perfect liberty with God, and it has come about in the power of His blood. The cup as the new covenant is the basis of it all. The youngest believer should be assured of forgiveness, that his sins and iniquities are remembered no more, and should have his heart purified by the knowledge of God. All this has been brought about by the blood of the Lord and should affect us.

So it is to be done worthily, otherwise we come under judgment. It refers to what is public. It is not at all a question of examining ourselves to see whether we are converted or not, or reviewing our history, or even examining ourselves as to whether we have judged ourselves sufficiently. That is not at all what the apostle had in mind; but if it is the Lord's death it has a claim that all should be done with the utmost reverence. That was what was lacking at Corinth.

The eating and drinking is connected with the wilderness position. It is the beginning, and the Corinthians were in such a state that they were all wrong at the start. And so it is with us that if the Lord in His death has not His place with us we shall not be right anywhere. The

apostle is rather adjusting us so that we shall not need adjusting when we come together. We do challenge our hearts there. Does the loaf represent to me the body of the Lord? Is that my apprehension of it? That is what it means to distinguish the Lord's body. If we do not see in it more than what is merely outward it is not the Supper.

The bread is consecrated by the Lord's own words. We do not consecrate the bread after we come together; we look at it as consecrated by His own words. The bread and the cup are before us as consecrated by the Lord's own words before a word is said by us. Well, have they that character in our minds? If not, we are better not there for we shall only bring judgment to ourselves. They are clothed by the wonderful import of the Lord's own words. They are not just bread and wine, though they have not been changed. We love to distinguish the loaf as the Lord's body. We must perform the service worthily, with deep reverence and regard for the One whose body and blood it is. To do it unworthily is to disregard them. The Lord said, "This is my body" and "This is my blood". It is not that they have been changed, but they have become that by the Lord's institution. If we eat and drink in reverence, receiving them as the body and blood of the Lord that we are engaged with, of course symbolically, it must correct all disorder. And then it is a 'calling of Me to mind'; we think of the Lord affectionately in all the power of His love expressed in death. For it is the same love exactly in glory; there is not one love in death and another in glory. These things would make us intelligent in what we actually do; it is not a question of state of heart but a certain public act which the saints do. If realised it would have a most powerful effect on us practically. We could not go on with what is inconsistent with His death and that, of course, is a most searching exercise.

The Lord was actively dealing with the Corinthians. "On this account many among you are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep". The Lord could not countenance the unworthy manner in which they were carrying on; He could not tolerate it. And I suppose that there has never been anything altogether like it since. I expect the apostle's letter corrected the public disorder in the assembly from that time onward. So there should be a profound reverence shown in keeping this holy institution. It is touching that in chastening His own it is that their spirits might be saved. It was the chastening of His love that His saints might be free of what was unworthy of Himself and of His supper.

I suppose that after this was written the custom of having a meal beforehand ceased and the Supper was left in its own blessedness. When the hour is come is what governs us now. We ought not to need to wait for one another. Where things start is in thinking of the Lord's love in death; and it is the same for the youngest as it is for the eldest, so that we all start together. How far we can go in the service depends, of course, on our spiritual stature, but we can all start together. I am sure that if the death of the Lord had its place with us it would correct everything that is wrong or disorderly. If there is anything of that with us it is due, I believe, to some lack in the appreciation of His death. It is the calling of Me to mind -- it is that great 'Me'. If there are any things to be adjusted they are to be adjusted beforehand. The normal feeling of every saint is that he must put things right before he comes to the assembly.

The apostle knew that there was capacity in the saints at Corinth for them to be affected by the reading of this chapter, and they were affected. There was a complete turning inside out as a result. Well, that is what the truth of the Supper would effect.

CHAPTER 12 VERSES 1 - 13

C.A.C. The apostle brings back the truth of the Lord's supper as the rallying point of the assembly, but he does not pursue the subject. He does not go on to tell us anything of the assembly service which would normally follow the Supper; he does not say a word about the Lord taking His place in the midst. I suppose the state of the Corinthians was such that they could hardly enter into these subjects. It was necessary before they could understand the spiritual service of the assembly that they should understand the subject of spiritual manifestations, so he brings them in in this chapter, I believe with the object of shutting out all action of the flesh and of the natural mind.

He had told the Corinthians very plainly that they were carnal, not spiritual, and the object of his writing in this chapter is to bring about the recognition by the brethren of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. As we do so we become spiritual, and as we become spiritual we become qualified for the spiritual service of the assembly. Although he could not talk about it, no doubt the apostle had that in his mind.

Ques. Would you say that up to the point of the actual Supper we have what is prescribed -- what is done and how it is done? But from that point nothing is prescribed; their state was not equal to the spiritual side.

C.A.C. What follows the Supper is a spiritual matter. The Supper is a material act and a matter of obligation for each saint. But after eating the Supper there is surely to be some result Christward and Godward. He does not enter into that, because the recognition of the Spirit and His operations was a necessity before that could be

entered upon. It is a matter of spiritual discernment. When brethren began to break bread about 110 years ago, they had not the slightest idea of the prescribed order, and we have still to learn; we have not reached finality as to the prescribed order of the assembly. There was a great development of the spiritual in the second epistle. The first thing is that we recognise the presence and operations of the Holy Spirit in the body.

The universal character of the body as the organism in which the Spirit operates must be recognised first. The Lord's supper is always local, but the presence of the Spirit and His operations in the body are universal. As this is understood it would preserve us from any thought of independency. We have to take up the truth of this chapter as light from God -- we have to come to it. Nobody comes to the truth of this chapter until he comes to it as divinely taught.

We ought all to have keen discernment as to what is of the Spirit. There is nothing to indicate that the Spirit of God is now here, except as His presence becomes manifest in the saints. There is nothing outward; you cannot show any one the Spirit.

Ques. How can you recognise the Spirit?

C.A.C. I know no other way of recognising the Spirit than by observing what people say -- that is the test he brings before us at the very opening of the chapter. That is always the test; we test everything by what they say. If a man is speaking in the Spirit he will not say, "Curse on Jesus". There are people who speak slightingly of Jesus; that cannot be the Spirit of God. They cannot detract from His Person -- Jesus, and His office -- Lord Jesus. The office is where He is set by God. If any one deviates from these two things you do not listen to him for a minute. You recognise in the way a person speaks that he personally has been subdued to the Lord, and that is a

great principle. If his whole moral being has not bowed down to the Lord Jesus, if any one is going on in a way that is contrary to this epistle, you cannot think that he is speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit. If I am not subdued to the Lord Jesus in my spirit the Holy Spirit will have no dealings with me, will He? There were at this time numbers of Jews in the assembly who were ready to say, "Curse on Jesus". Any real Jew would say it today.

Rem. "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?"

C.A.C. People who do not the things which He says have no title to say "Lord Jesus". Those going on with a religious system have no title. The Holy Spirit helps those through whom He speaks to move on the line of the Lord's will -- His will directs everything. So what we say takes character from that and it is the great test. John says, "Believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits if they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world".

So that having spoken of these great tests in verse 3, he goes on to speak of the gifts and services and operations that go on in the assembly universally as the body.

Ques. Is there a difference between the assembly and the body?

C.A.C. There is a distinction made in this chapter.

You would not find that God set the apostles in the body.

In the assembly there is a certain order; there is a ministerial order, which makes a great difference. If the apostle Paul came in here we should all be quiet. In the assembly things are graded but in the body all the members function unitedly. There is no rivalry, no partiality; you do not think of saying you prefer one member to another.

Ques. Suppose they do not function?

C.A.C. Well, that is paralysis. At the present time the body viewed in the Corinthian aspect is paralysed, but that does not hinder two or three persons who are walking in the truth and speaking in the Spirit from realising the truth of the whole assembly. In the christian profession this chapter has ceased to exist. The assembly down here on earth in its universal aspect (that is, the body in the sense of Corinthians) has disappeared from view.

But God has given exercise so that a few individuals have come back to the truth of it, recognising that the Holy Spirit is here manifested in the body. We assume to hold the truth but then the truth in our minds extends to every saint on the face of the earth. It must do so, for the body is composed of those who have all been baptised by one Spirit "into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bondmen or free, and have all been given to drink of one Spirit". Then the assembly is seen as in organic unity with the same gifts, services and operations, throughout the world. The divine thought is that what is universal comes into action locally. When we look at the loaf and the cup we are doing what all the saints should be doing. We get at it in a practical way by looking at it locally. It is composed of men and women who were in the world once but now have come into this organism, whether Jews or Greeks, bondmen or free.

We must dismiss the thought of meetings altogether from this chapter; it is Lord's day morning to Saturday night. The body is here that the presence of the Spirit may be manifested all the week long. The gifts and services and operations of God are going on all the time. You could have all this chapter without a meeting at all.

Ques. How does Matthew 18 apply?

C.A.C. He speaks of the assembly in Matthew 18 (the two or three) as administering on His behalf. There is a tribunal to which the erring brother can be brought, so

while we cannot get the assembly together practically, He makes it possible with two or three. So it is with us.

It is not the Person of the Lord in this chapter, but the Holy Spirit, and the intent of the Spirit to come into manifestation. It is given to each brother and sister to be a vessel for the manifestation of the Spirit. It is all for profit and has nothing to do with the service of God. So we are always to be to the profit of the saints, and we shall only be so as we act and speak in the power of the Holy Spirit. In principle that is for the profit of the whole assembly.

It is rather striking that there is nothing in the gifts of the Spirit that cannot be taken up by sisters -- of the nine operations enumerated here; Paul does not refer to ministerial gifts at all. Philip had four daughters who prophesied. Such a gift is a matter of the sovereignty of the Spirit. I cannot pretend to be somebody else. According to this chapter He has accorded to everybody some gift. If certain gifts are not there, we recognise the sovereignty of the Spirit in it. Some would insist that we ought to have healing, tongues, miracles and so on. Well, if the Spirit gave the gift of healing to a brother or sister we should be very thankful for it, but we should want to test it!

Rem. It says, "In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body".

C.A.C. Is not that the key to the chapter in a way? That is, the gifts are all from the same Spirit, so they cannot possibly clash one with another. The Spirit confers certain capabilities on brothers and sisters, but in the actual service we must wait on the Lord for direction and support, not on the Spirit. The Spirit has qualified a brother but he waits on the Lord for direction as to how he exercises his gift.

There is something else going on at the same time; that

is, God operating all the time on the souls of the saints. Is my service such as He can connect His operations with? If not, I had better drop it at once. So the body is a wonderful organism, where the Spirit is giving gifts and the Lord is directing the services and God operating so that it all becomes effective. Gifts given to persons involve capability from the indwelling Spirit to do certain things, and the way they do things is a manifestation of the Spirit here; it is in connection with what is public here.

Rem. It speaks earlier in the epistle of the "testimony of the Christ".

C.A.C. If we have not the inward qualities of the Spirit of Christ, we are not any good in the body. We cannot take up any service in the body unless we have that as a basis.

The aspect here is different from that in Colossians where the body exists to exhibit the greatness of Christ; but there is now a vessel for the manifestation of the Spirit, showing that He is down here. All that is extended in the gentile world. A word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, faith -- these things are not limited to brothers. I think "faith" spoken of here would be given as it becomes necessary at some special juncture of the assembly. The Spirit might give it to a sister and she might take the lead in the whole assembly on the earth. Perhaps there is a deadlock in a meeting and by the Spirit some brother has the gift of faith and knows what to do and how to do it.

We observe the beautiful distinctions of the Spirit. We want them all to be different. You do not think of admiring one more than another, each is completely perfect and admirable if it is of the Spirit. The contemplation of it makes us feel how small we are in these things, how little we have entered into them. The discerning of spirits

refers to what is said by spirits. There were demons speaking with tongues and so on, so such a gift was needed in the assembly. What takes away the perfection of Jesus or denies His lordship, for instance, is the work of a demon.

So the apostle takes up the thought of the human body as a figure and it all leads up to this, that there is something here on earth that He can call "the Christ". That is, there is an anointed body here on earth in which the operations of the Spirit are going on, and it manifests that the Spirit is here.

Rem. And we are all baptised into one body.

C.A.C. Yes; it is the body here that is "the Christ". So that it is really all Christ, because what is in the power of the Spirit of Christ is really Christ.

Ques. Would you explain the difference between sealing and anointing?

C.A.C. Is not sealing what we enjoy secretly with God? But the anointing is what is public. That is the line of the chapter.

Rem. We "have all been given to drink of one Spirit".

C.A.C. It is beautiful. We just wanted that for a finishing touch; it is the essence of the whole matter. Before we begin to manifest the Spirit we have our own secret with God; we know the virtue of the Spirit for inward satisfaction and joy. Every christian who does not grieve the Spirit has the same joy; that is why the saints fit so well together. The result is that these different operations of the Spirit are unchecked; I know the Holy Spirit is dwelling here.

Ques. Do we not get it in John 4 and John 7, inward satisfaction and then the flowing out?

C.A.C. Oh, these things are delightful to contemplate,

and we want to get on our knees about them, so that the living organism is not only talked about but seen.

CHAPTER 12 VERSES 13 - 31

C.A.C. It would appear that baptism in Scripture always suggests a coming on to entirely new ground. John's baptism brought people on to the ground of repentance, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit brings people to the one body -- an entirely new ground in this world. The body appears to be spoken of in this chapter as the vessel in which spiritual manifestations take place. It is the vessel of the operations of the Spirit, and the different gifts which he in the distribution of the Spirit are regarded as the different members of the body.

Ques. The body is one. Is that the thought of unity, or is it that there is no other vessel like it contemplated?

C.A.C. I think it is that there is a certain organism here on earth in which the operations of the Spirit are found coming out in various distinctive gifts, but all necessarily one because they are all in the power of the same Spirit. It is the one and the same Spirit that constitutes the unity.

This is how souls would reach the truth of the one body as a subsisting reality down here. They would reach it in the operations of the Spirit in the diversity of the gifts in the body down here. It is not reached in a doctrinal way, but realised experimentally in an anointed body down here. The manifestations of the Spirit are entirely limited to the body.

The human body is the figure all through; that is, it has many members, but they are all constituent parts of

the one body. The human body is the underlying conception in this chapter. I suppose the human body is the most wonderful thing we have in nature. People have however become so accustomed to the working of the human mind in the things of God that they do not recognise the working of the Spirit.

The divine conception is a wonderful one, based on the human body, and the human body is not like any other body. It was not only created and made, it was formed directly under the hand of God: in Genesis 2:7, 8 it says, "Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" and then, "Jehovah Elohim ... there put Man whom he had formed". There is the thought of formation connected with the human body, so the psalmist could say, "I am fearfully, wonderfully made ... . and in thy book all my members were written; ... when as yet there was none of them", Psalm 139:14, 16. That is, the formation of man's body was the result of divine counsel. It was written in the book before ever He took the dust in His hand.

I have no doubt when God took Adam's body and formed it in His hand, He had in mind the baptism of the Spirit.

If God forms something it cannot possibly be improved upon, and so the body is really a divine formation that is perfect as a whole and in all its parts. You may say that we cannot contemplate such a thing. Well, you must contemplate it! It is not the body in the Colossian or Ephesian sense at all, but in the Corinthian sense.

The members, each one, are all distinctive, but each member is part of a whole. We have to merge our individuality, which few of us are prepared to do, so that we take in the thought of the whole body in our minds. This body is a substantial thing. When you think of it you break your heart over the denial of it, but the truth comes home to us. The mass of christians have no idea of

merging in the body; they maintain their individuality, and those active in service almost maintain their isolation. We are brought into an organism and every member is to move as recognising the one body, but how few of us have learned to move in the one body!

So we are made conscious that we are moving in the sphere of the body; we are moving bodywise, not individually. The baptism of the Spirit is made by many entirely an individual matter, but in Scripture it is not individual at all; we are merged into one body, and according to God it is a perfect organism. We cannot improve on the operations of the Spirit in the body.

Ques. Would you distinguish between the baptism of the Spirit and being made to drink of one Spirit?

C.A.C. Well, I think the baptism of the Spirit merges all who are the subjects of it in one divine unity. But there is an inward aspect of that; we have all been given to drink of one Spirit. That is, each has found his satisfaction in drinking of the Spirit. Therefore when a member of the body expresses his inward feelings, every other member of the body can say, 'Amen'.

Ques. It is not automatic?

C.A.C. It is a matter of power, I should say.

Ques. The body is peculiar to this period; would you say it is unique?

C.A.C. Paul's special ministry is viewed in this chapter as a temporary thing; not one of the features that mark it (see verses 7 to 11) will go into heaven. It is very important for us to understand the body in the Corinthian aspect. We are more familiar with the Colossian and Ephesian aspect, but in Corinthians it is an actual organism made up of Jews, Greeks, bondmen and free, and such persons merge in the power of the Spirit in the one body as a living organism on the earth in which the operations of the Spirit are found. The body in Colossians and

Ephesians is for the display of the graces of the heavenly Man. But this is not the Corinthian aspect which makes the Spirit's activity an experimental reality to all who come in contact with it. The wisdom of God in putting the members together in the body down here is perfect. So the saints in the truth of the body realise they are merged in the body, and they cultivate continuously the manifestations of the one Spirit; it is what all hearts are after. And therefore you find all members of the body are not equally important. The members cannot be suffered to individualise themselves; they are corporeally one, and have to learn to acknowledge that.

No doubt the Spirit of God foresaw what would come to pass and anticipated it. "If the foot say, Because I am not a hand I am not of the body", and the ear, "Because I am not an eye I am not of the body". There was the possibility of persons becoming discontented with their place in the body and refusing to function because they had not the same prominence as others!

Rem. God has set the members in the body as it has pleased Him, and He has tempered the body together.

C.A.C. That is most important, and no amount of labour or effort on my part can alter things. He has assigned a certain place to me in the body and I cannot get out of it without lawlessness. Each one is set in just the right way; I must not be discontented with what pleases God! All is according to design. He formed Man; there is an artistic formation in that. The body in the Corinthian aspect is a most wonderful conception, because every member is perfect, and functions in its own office; all function in unity, and the fact that you can only see it in the Bible makes it more precious. It required the bringing in of the gentiles to get the conception of the body. This would help our private exercises; we should pray more bodywise. I am ashamed sometimes

when I take a backward view over my praying and see that it has been nearly all connected with myself. If you have once got a divine conception you cannot be content with anything else.

There are certain members of the body which seem to be weaker. "Much rather, the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary". He refers to the material body with a spiritual application. Of course it was to be seen in Corinth, where the saints had come under the baptism of the Spirit. This body order would be seen, and it would shut out all working of the flesh and the mind of man, and it would prepare the way most certainly for the thirteenth chapter.

Ques. Philippians 2. 2 - 4 would come out, that would be the body idea?

C.A.C. Yes, and it is good to remember that those members which seem the weaker are necessary; we have to accept that. That is, we must not discount a member because he seems to be weaker.

Then there are parts of the body less honourable in our esteem than other parts; there are members that seem lacking in honour. "These we clothe with more abundant honour"; that is, he brings in the thought of clothing. The thought is suggestive of beautifying a member that may be deficient in attractive qualities. We have to learn to clothe such saints with what is delightful. Clothing throughout Scripture carries with it the thought of adornment. God's thought was that man as a creature should not only have a body but clothing, that is, adornment. My impression is the clothing is what abides. The body features are going to pass away, but I venture to say the clothing does not.

Suppose I am less honourable than many of the gifts the Spirit has bestowed on the body, I have to admit that, but that is no reason why I should not be clothed with

something more excellent than the gifts of the Spirit which are all temporary and will pass away -- not one will go to heaven. That is, the gifts are all subordinated to love. I think he gives the clothing in chapter 13. Many of us have to accept the fact that we have a less honourable position than others and we shall never prosper until we do. But I think God brings in what is eternal and belongs to perfection and He clothes members with it -- that is open to every saint.

Rem. Paul says, "To me, less than the least of all saints", Ephesians 3:8.

C.A.C. He would have some difficulty to get smaller than that! There is another order of things coming in and the one least distinguished in the body may have part in that. I am to give myself more to the things which abide.

That is, love abides, the gifts are passing. You love to think there is a way of more surpassing excellence. We are no good whatever on earth until we have learned our place in the body. But there is something greater than that -- the way of more surpassing excellence, and one most inferior as to his place in the body can be exalted to the highest possible degree in the experimental knowledge of love. So there is something to go in for! If I were the greatest gift in the body, I should exercise it in the conviction all the time that it will pass away. But when I move in love I am conscious that I am on the line of what is eternal.

We have no reason to believe that the historical church ever stood in the truth of the one body. This lies at the very root of things; if I do not function at home every day, I am not much use in the assembly, am I? It is delightful to be in a circle where you are made conscious that the Spirit is operating.

Rem. The members are to have consideration for one another.

C.A.C. That is there is no selfish consideration in the body. The members have the same concern one for another, it must be so.

CHAPTER 13 VERSES 1 - 13

Ques. Is this chapter the way of more surpassing excellence?

C.A.C. Yes, it certainly is. We have seen in chapter 12 that the body is composed of many members, the Spirit having set the gifts in the body in His own sovereignty, and that each has to function in its place, but you do not exactly get the life of the body in chapter 12.

Ques. Is it more in the nature of what is potential then?

C.A.C. Yes, and what is functional; the members function, the figure used being that of the human body. The members all function where set, and in harmony; but the life of the body is not in the members; in the natural body the life is in the blood. Paul comes here to that which constitutes the life of the body without which there could be no functioning rightly in any of the members.

Ques. Are you suggesting that love is equivalent to the blood in the natural body?

C.A.C. Yes, I thought so.

Ques. You have in your mind the thought of the life being in the blood?

C.A.C. Yes. The Spirit is seen in chapter 12 as forming the body and the vessel in which certain gifts function. Well, that is one side of the operations of the Spirit, what we might perhaps call the external side.

Ques. The Spirit is not mentioned in this chapter. In Romans the Spirit is life; what is the difference?

C.A.C. We have to recognise that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is not only active in the way of conferring gifts, which operate in power by the Spirit, but He is also operating on the line of love and that is internal. The gifts are external, indeed they are spoken of as manifestations; but then there is also the power, the working of the Spirit on the line of life, so that the body can be a living organism animated vitally by love. No gift that is not operating in that way is operating vitally. It has often been said that chapter 12 is power, chapter 13 is love, and chapter 14 the spirit of wise discretion.

The apostle therefore does not hesitate to say that if he had the most remarkable gifts and was lacking in love, he had nothing. He says it of himself. When Paul is going to say anything particularly strong, he likes to say it of himself.

If we think of it, how could it be in any spiritual sense the body of Christ if it were not animated by love? It would be an impossibility. It is good for us to accept the fact; we are only in the body of Christ as moved by love.

It is such a character of love as could not have been found in Old Testament times. There could not have been a body in the Old Testament in that sense; there was no power adequate for the forming of a body in love.

Ques. Do we need exercise as to it?

C.A.C. The difficulty really in apprehending the truth of the body is the immensity of what is involved in it. We can all accept that the saints are the body of Christ, and so they are. The Corinthians are called the body of Christ, but there was not much exercise as to their being it in a vital sense.

Rem. Ephesians shows the body building itself up in love.

C.A.C. Very helpful. When we come to the body in its highest aspect we find inward energies of the body are for the self-building up of itself in love. The Ephesian gifts act towards the body; they are in a sense external to the body. The gifts in the body in 1 Corinthians 12 are actually members in the body. Then at the end of chapter 12 there are gifts set in the assembly which is a different thought again.

Ques. Would the exercise of gift produce this?

C.A.C. Yes, I think it is clear that there might be much gift and little love. The Corinthians came behind in no gift. They had a wonderful enrichment in the line of gift but were going to law with each other, showing that the gifts were no help at all there. Love would have put that right. If love is not there, God is not in the matter and it is absolutely worthless. Gift is a manifestation of love; it operates in love if it is genuine and the love is greater than the gift. We meet a brother sometimes of whom we say that his spirit is greater than his gift. The gifts will pass away, love goes on. Paul is seeking to clothe us with that which we can carry to eternity. The divine conception is a wonderful one, and you could not think of Christ having an imperfect body. I suppose undue importance was being attached to gift at Corinth. It was gift that was not being exercised in love but was making much of the person who had it.

Rem. It was destroying the vital thought of what the body really is.

C.A.C. It would seem they had been priding themselves on their ability in the speaking of tongues, but using them for self-display. God was not in it. Paul wanted a state of things at Corinth that would affect an unconverted man if he came in, so that "falling upon his face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you". That is what we would like. It is not

that he would say, 'What wonderful men and what gifts' but "God is indeed amongst you".

We need to take up this chapter as encouragement. It has often been said how humbling it is to read it, but I do not think the apostle wrote it to humble them, but as alluring them, that they might follow this wonderful character of love. He indicates how it would behave, and how we need to behave. We should do well to ask ourselves, 'How would love behave in this case?' If we can answer that question we have a solution to all our problems. It was all exemplified in the Lord. Love has been set forth perfectly in Him, and particularly, of course, in His death. The Lord's supper is the point where we learn love. We learn it as revealed in divine Persons -- in God and in Christ -- so that we possess it. He says nothing about our loving. He regards love as something we possess. "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love" and in verse 2, "but have not love", and again in verse 3, "but have not love". It is not what I do, it is what I possess. I shall never give any expression of love until I possess it. It is really the apprehension of love in divine Persons; we have it there, but it is to become formative in us.

Peter shows us how the promises make us partakers of the divine nature. If we lay hold of them, they bring us into the knowledge of the nature of God in such a way that we become partakers of it. It is supposed to take practical form in us, so he later on tries to show us how love will be there. If I have it, it is bound to affect me in a practical way.

Rem. "Love has long patience". Patience is very practical; we test each other a good deal on that side.

C.A.C. It is indeed. You mean, we have patience, but after a while we lose it! The point with love is, after it has been tested it remains kind. It is a wonderfully attractive

thing and the saint is entitled to say that that is his nature, and if anything is exhibited that is contrary to it, it is the flesh; it is something hateful to God and hateful to him. It has been said that this chapter is like a picture on the wall. It is not intended to be a mere picture on the wall, but seen in the saints. Paul is bringing these things out to allure the saints with them; they are to be adorned with the divine nature; if they are not, they are no good to God or man.

Ques. How do we arrive at it?

C.A.C. I suppose that, according to Corinthians, it is by means of the Lord's supper, which is the fresh start of our spiritual life every first day of the week. The loaf and the cup are not set before us that we may merely look, but that we may eat and drink, and we eat and drink our way into divine love. So each week we have a fresh start, a spiritual meal. Eating and drinking implies the building up of our spiritual constitution. The Lord's supper is the great tangible expression of divine love that will never be repeated. It will never be expressed again to all eternity. And we are to live on it, so that our spiritual constitution is formed in love.

The thought of eating and drinking comes in in this epistle and it is much emphasised in chapter 11. It suggests that the spiritual effect of doing so is to build up our constitutions. What good is it unless I come to the Supper with the idea of getting a fresh and deepened impression of it? If I do not, I am not in a condition to come. It is right to take account of the symbols because the Lord has appointed them, and we should regard them with the greatest reverence as divinely selected. They are not appointed by a man at all. It is well to contemplate the loaf and the cup, but there is the eating and drinking; that is, they are to be appropriated. That is how we get the formation in the divine nature; we get it

no other way except as contemplating it in Christ. We do not get stature by being gifted. The greatest gift we could think of -- an apostle -- without love (and Judas was an apostle without love, which shows what a terrible thing it is) was the "son of perdition". We may be infants in stature while having outstanding gifts. Chapter 14 must be taken up in the good of chapter 13 or else there will be poor ministry meetings.

Ques. Would Peter and John be gift and love combined?

C.A.C. Yes, and the two work beautifully together in the Acts. We can all come into this. I may be small in gift but great in love. Gift is limited but there is no limitation in the divine nature -- love. This is all to draw us in a practical way into the truth of the body. I am nothing in the body if I am not characterised by love. It is no good to say I am small; I am nothing! So I have to pursue these things. According to the working of God in me I harmonise with them. They are not uncongenial to me, they are attractive to me.

Ques. Would you explain verse 9, "For we know in part"?

C.A.C. Well, I think at the end of the chapter he reminds us that we are actually in an infantile state.

Ques. Does it show the possibility of growing now?

C.A.C. Does not this passage distinctly suggest the possibility of growth? Because he says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I reasoned as a child; when I became a man, I had done with what belonged to the child". There is growth in the divine nature; we sing sometimes, 'In this Thy nature grow'. We have to accept our limitations according to our condition in flesh and blood. The apostle did not profess to know everything, for he says, "Now I know partially" -- that is, it is a partial thing now -- "but then I shall know

according as I also have been known". God has known us in Christ, but then I only know myself partially in Christ, I have a very limited and partial view of it. "When that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away". The saints in the glorified state will enter into it. We are known in Christ by God and nowhere else; but then we do not know ourselves in Christ as God does. Saints are known of God in Christ, but in the future saints will know themselves in Christ as God knows them in Christ. There will be love that pervades the whole scene; every one will be filled with love and be in a scene of love. And there will be no gift there; everything is perfect.

"Love ... bears all things". 'Bears' could be 'covers' so you do not expose a brother or sister; you do not speak of what is wrong in a brother or sister, but you speak to them of it. "Believes all things" -- perhaps it is difficult for us to take that in. I think it means that you take account of the saints according to divine thoughts. "Love ... believes all things" is a general statement; it is the comprehensive way in which love acts. That would be distinctive of the body. If all kinds of distrust and suspicion are at work that is of the devil. The very thing that I complain of in another is likely to be the very thing that is working in my own heart; we know how true that is. Instead you count upon the same principle in action in others that is in yourself. You count on the same line of the working of God in others as in yourself; everything else is a sting in your conscience and you will never be happy until you put it right. That is going on in your brethren too all the time.

Was it not the very absence of love that made all the defects and deficiencies at Corinth? I am to go on with these features of love, and if I see any one doing wrong I

am to speak to that person in love. Paul was doing that to the Corinthians, but it is all balanced. In chapter 5 a wicked person has to be removed; you must not use love to cover up sin in the sense of passing it by. It is good to be among the brethren and feel that the divine nature is operating in every brother and sister and we want to help that on and encourage it; Paul is showing that love never fails.

CHAPTER 14 VERSES 1 - 33

Ques. Why is prophecy so important?

C.A.C. The third verse sums up its value, does it not? And it is the great evidence of the presence of God amongst His people. We ought not to be content to be walking in a path of separation from manifest evil, or to be holding the precious truth that has come to us. We ought, surely, to be concerned that there should be evidence that God is amongst us.

Ques. Would prophecy suggest present living communications from God?

C.A.C. Yes, it suggests that God is near, "God is indeed amongst you". So that when saints are being addressed an unbeliever coming in falls down on his face. They are not preaching the gospel, or labouring to get at his conscience, the saints are being spoken to in such a way that the presence of God amongst His people is felt so that an unbeliever falls down on his face. That is something more than a good word!

Rem. I am afraid we do not know much about having God with us in that powerful way, but it is normal.

Ques. Does prophesying principally have the edification of the assembly in view, not the unbeliever?

C.A.C. It does not suppose that the unbeliever is being addressed; but the felt power of God's presence amongst His people is such that it affects an unbeliever. That is a crucial test; how is an ungodly man affected who comes in? Such a one comes in not at all partial to what is going on. He is not very susceptible; but the presence of God amongst His people will make him fall down on his face. We do not often see that.

Ques. I think you told us once that it was more important for God to speak to us than for us to speak to God; is that not so?

C.A.C. Yes, I think it is. And God dwells and walks in holy places. He says, "I will dwell among them and walk among them". The saints are the holy places where God walks, so that priestly conditions are necessary.

Ques. There is nothing said about the Spirit in this chapter; why is that?

C.A.C. Well, that is the contrast between chapters 12 and 14; in chapter 12 you get manifestations of the Spirit, but in chapter 14 it is spiritual manifestations.

Rem. I am afraid we do not know what you mean.

C.A.C. Spiritual manifestations could only be among spiritual persons.

Ques. Through the medium of spiritual persons?

C.A.C. Yes, so that the real exercise underlying this chapter is that there should be priestly conditions -- conditions suitable to the holy service of God. It is priests who draw near to God. The whole chapter is governed by the thought of spirituality -- spiritual manifestations. Not a word is said in the chapter about the Holy Spirit. There is a good bit said about the spirits of the prophets, but nothing said about the Holy Spirit; it supposes that there

are spiritual men who can voice the mind of God intelligently.

Ques. Would you say that that character of atmosphere should mark all our comings together, an atmosphere that would bring an unbeliever to the ground on his face?

C.A.C. Yes. We might say that the whole of this epistle would tend to the purification of the priesthood. In the last days of Israel's history the priesthood was defiled (Zechariah 3). There was a high priest, but he was clothed in filthy garments. That is very much the condition of things in the christian profession; the priesthood is defiled. The priesthood was defiled at Corinth; they were not maintaining spiritual conditions; and the apostle Paul laboured to get them cleansed from pollutions. He would take away the filthy garments from them and give them change of raiment and set a pure turban on their heads!

The result of the high priest being restored to his proper holiness and dignity is that God speaks of bringing in Christ as the Branch. Then there is the thought of a golden vessel and of oil flowing freely, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit". It seems to me that the idea in this chapter is that the assembly is a vessel, divine in character, and priestly, and the flow of what is spiritual is to be encouraged and promoted in every way.

Ques. When you say he has the cleansing of the priesthood in view do you mean the whole assembly?

C.A.C. Yes.

Rem. The priests are also addressed in Malachi.

C.A.C. Yes; if the kind of meeting contemplated here is to be restored it can only be restored in spiritual conditions.

Rem. So that the cleansing of the priesthood would have a local bearing.

C.A.C. Yes, I think so; chapter 14 is local. Chapter 12 is universal. The idea of the manifestations of the Spirit

in chapter 12 is universal. The Spirit has distributed certain qualifications to serve in the whole assembly; certain gifts are set in the whole assembly, and the whole assembly, Jew and gentile, are baptised into one body by the Spirit. It is the universal thought; he brings that in first. And then, before speaking of the working out of things locally, the beautiful 13th chapter comes in to show that it can only be worked out locally in the spirit of love, "Follow after love". Love has been set before us in chapter 11. The Supper brings before us the great manifestation of love, and what is set before us in the Supper is to be a model; everything in the assembly is to conform to the Supper as a model. The Lord said at the supper table, "I am in the midst of you as the one that serves". The precious character of His service is set forth in the loaf and cup. 'Now', He says, 'you are to move on that line; you are to follow after love'.

Prophecy would result in building up the saints in the knowledge of divine Persons, and it would have the effect of encouraging them in the face of all that is adverse around, and of consoling them in their many sorrows (verse 3). The church is in the place of sorrows, and needs consolation, so that a great element in prophecy is consolation. That character of ministry is so powerful that it makes an ungodly man fall down. He feels God is there.

Rem. The presence of God would affect everyone.

C.A.C. Yes, it lays bare the secrets of the heart. If God is brought in, the secrets of the heart are laid bare. Sometimes we think we have to give people a tremendous knocking about to get at their conscience; but if we could bring God in, that would do it.

Ques. Would it be illustrated in the way Elihu comes in in the book of Job?

C.A.C. Yes, he comes in and speaks for God; and God is in the still, small voice. He is not in the thunder or

earthquake, but in the still, small voice. Prophecy does not mean a scathing word that withers up everybody.

Ques. I suppose if it is of God, all that God says is in love, and the vessel would be characterised by that. It would be felt, would it not?

C.A.C. Yes, I think chapter 13 is most important. We have the love of divine Persons brought before us in the Supper; the love of Christ and the love of God told out in their full extent; and then this wonderful picture of love acting in detail in chapter 13. We have love in its concentration set forth in the loaf and the cup. Divine love is concentrated there, and then the 13th chapter shews us love acting in detail. So that every kind of circumstance brings out some peculiar phase of love. Now that is the spirit in which a meeting such as chapter 14 speaks of can be profitably held, and it will be marked by many features. There will be positive building up in the knowledge of God. There will be encouragement; there are always troubled hearts that need encouragement. And there will be consolation; saints are always in sorrow. If they have no personal sorrow they have the sorrow of the state of the world and of the state of the church; they always need to be consoled. And then there will be instruction; Paul says, "that I may instruct others".

Instruction, teaching, thanksgiving, prayer and singing; what a wonderful variety of spiritual activity! And every bit of it is giving evidence that God is amongst His people. We ought to covet that; we ought to pray for it very much; that the meetings shall be the evidence that God is amongst us. I do not think that we ought to be content to have nice times! We often speak of very precious things in a way that we enjoy, but we want more of the evidence that God is indeed amongst us.

Ques. Would there be power in our meetings if God were with us?

C.A.C. Yes, indeed.

Ques. Would it have the same effect upon us as upon an unbeliever?

C.A.C. I think so; the result would be to bring down everything that is of the flesh.

Ques. When John said, "Behold the Lamb of God", did not he prophesy? It had effect upon his disciples.

C.A.C. It did indeed, but he was probably not thinking of them. It has often been said that it was his involuntary exclamation. In prophesying one is thinking of the saints; one is soberly and intelligently thinking of their good.

Ques. Does this contemplate a meeting specially convened for prophesying?

C.A.C. Well, it speaks about the whole assembly coming together in one place. It seems to suggest that there would be opportunities for such a meeting.

Ques. Is it a local meeting, not a district meeting?

C.A.C. Yes, I think it is local.

Ques. While it is local in its setting, would you think it wrong to have such a meeting if there were others invited?

C.A.C. I should not think it wrong. It is remarkable that we are not told when to have it, or how often. The Lord never regards the assembly otherwise than as a company of intelligent persons. To Corinth Paul says, "I speak as to intelligent persons". And when such a meeting should be held is left to the intelligence of the assembly. It is rather striking that we have no account in Scripture of any word of prophecy in the assembly.

Ques. What about Acts 13 -- "Separate me now Barnabas and Saul"?

C.A.C. Does not that refer rather to the prophets who were ministering to the Lord and fasting? It does not appear that it was in an assembly meeting. It is striking that Scripture furnishes us with no precedent of the kind

of address that would be given in a meeting of this kind.

We have gospel addresses of Peter and Paul, and we have the addresses of Peter and James at the conference; but we have no record of any addresses given in the assembly. So that we are left to our own spirituality and intelligence to arrive at the proper kind of address. There is no model, and what a mercy! If we had an address of Paul's in the assembly somewhere, it might have been taken for a model, but the Lord would have us to prophesy according to the proportion of our own faith.

Rem. I was wondering if that was the reason why there is no gift in this chapter.

C.A.C. Well, gift is to be the subject of desire and prayer. If you can speak with a tongue and cannot interpret, it is not hopeless -- "let him pray". A brother might have something on his heart, and not get it out very well, and perhaps be discouraged and never try again! But if he did not get it out very well, let him pray. I think if exercised and spiritual brothers would come forward when they have something of value, and would pray, they would be helped. I believe there is a great deal of latent wealth in the assembly. What is needed is more prayer for ability. This word, "let him pray", would apply to every kind of ability that is needed for edifying.

Mr. Raven said that he had no gift at all, but he wanted to serve the brethren and he prayed, and the Lord gave him a gift. The Lord is not a respecter of persons; if He would answer Mr. Raven's prayer, He would answer your prayer or mine. And think of Paul! At the end of his course he did not desire prayer that he might have more light, or that the Lord would give him more revelations; he had the whole wealth of the ministry of the glad tidings and of the mystery, but now he says, 'I want you to pray that utterance may be given to me, in the opening of my mouth'. He felt the need of help in the actual

utterance of the things. He had them all in his heart; it is no good our trying to speak about something that we have not got in our hearts -- that is important. A man may feel sometimes that he has got spiritual wealth in his heart, but having it in your heart does not always mean that you can bring it out, so we have to pray. If I have something precious about the Lord or about God, God gave it to me, and He gave it to me by His Spirit for the good of the assembly; now I have to pray for divinely conferred ability to bring it out. There is a very great difference between natural ability and the ability which God gives. A man may be able to talk well and quote Scripture, but there may be nothing in it of spiritual worth; it is trading on natural ability and I dread it! I have often gone home after speaking, and asked the Lord, 'Was it just my ability or was it ability that God gives?' God is willing to give ability. This is not wanting something to make us important; it is the desire begotten in the soul by the enjoyment of divine love, and by the possession of divine substance. The man who has substance in his heart would say, 'O Lord it is so precious; do help me to serve it out to others. I have no ability; I cannot even put five words together, but Thou canst help me'.

This is what we need if we are going to have this kind of meeting. I believe there are lots of brothers amongst us who have never said a word in public, but they have the preciousness in their hearts, and if they would pray the Lord would give them utterance, and they would speak in the assembly perhaps for five minutes. "Five words", Paul says. Nobody would get weary of that address, would they? Nobody would say, 'When is he going to stop?' We ought to take these exercises very seriously, and especially the brothers who have to carry it out in a practical way, but the sisters should all be in sympathy

with it; it is not an exercise for brothers only. When a brother who has never said a word before gets up, everyone is sympathetic; there is a sympathetic atmosphere. Everyone would be saying, 'Lord help him; he would never have got up if he had not something; now Lord help him'. A brother in bringing out what is in his heart, knows it is right because of its quality. He has not got up to give the saints a scolding, he has not such a thought in his mind; he is conscious that the thing before him, whether expressed in five words or five hundred, is edifying and encouraging. A word like that would stimulate and encourage another brother to add something.

Another brother has something in his heart which has a point of contact with what the other brother said; so he feels encouraged to get up and give his contribution.

Then there is a third, and by that time the saints have had as much as they can take in at once. I have said sometimes that a principle brought out in this chapter is that of the restriction of output. That is, it supposes there is a lot more there; the assembly is much more wealthy than we have any idea of. I have often been astonished when I have got alongside a brother that never said a word in public. I have just now in mind a young brother who had never said a word in public who came to see me one day when I was poorly. I did not feel like talking to him, so I thought I would just let him talk to me, and it was simply beautiful when that young man began to speak; what precious things he could say of the Lord. I believe we are far more wealthy than we have any idea of.

We have come under the blighting influence of Christendom; in Christendom nobody may speak but a minister.

Perhaps we are more under the influence of that idea than we have any idea of. A brother says, 'I am not gifted, it is not for me to think of saying anything', and he takes up no exercise as to prophesying, though the

Scripture says, "Ye can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all be encouraged". He has really come under the influence of the clerical spirit. We need to have more to do with God, and to think of the spiritual value of what we have. We must not minimise the exceeding preciousness of what we have in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We should think, 'Now this is precious to me, and what is precious to me is precious to the whole assembly, and I would like to bring it out. I would like to say ten or twenty words just to let others share it'. Perhaps you might have to wait a bit; things of this kind never spoil by keeping. Preserve it and presently the opportunity will come. If we had more meetings of this kind, there would be more opportunity; presently the time would come when a brother would feel, 'This is just the time for that little bit that I have been carrying in my heart'.

In such a meeting as 1 Corinthians 14 contemplates nothing counts but what has spiritual value. And the man who has something from God is distrustful of himself. Paul had the whole priceless treasure of the mystery in his soul by the Holy Spirit, but he was so distrustful of himself in attempting to speak that he wanted the prayers of the brethren. The right spirit is for a brother to so distrust himself that he feels nothing will carry him through but the prayers of the saints. Paul begins this epistle by telling the saints how rich they were: "In everything ye have been enriched in him", the Head; and then in chapter 12 he brings out the wealth they had in the Spirit. The Spirit is distributing, and it seems to imply that everybody gets a share in the distribution of the Spirit (see chapter 12: 7). Now, as in the wealth of this, are we prepared to be at the disposal of the Lord and the Head?

Ques. Why is there so much said about God in this chapter?

C.A.C. The epistle is addressed to the assembly of God, and it is rather striking that there is nothing said in it about the presence of the Lord. You would not learn from this epistle that there was such a thing as the presence of the Lord. The nearest that comes to it is when he refers to the power of our Lord Jesus Christ in connection with dealing with a wicked person. But he does speak about the presence of God, "God is indeed amongst you".

Ques. You would not suggest the restricting of prophecy to a meeting specially convened?

C.A.C. No, but I think the morning meeting is not quite what is contemplated here. When the saints are convened to eat the Supper, the meeting has a peculiar character. But even then, I believe the Lord would give a word very much more often than we get one. I have been exercised for a long time as to why it is that in many meetings there is rarely a word from the Lord. I believe the Lord would more often give a word if we sought Him about it, and it would be a word that would stimulate thanksgiving and worship. Mr. Taylor was saying, during his last visit, that he thought that a word in the morning meeting ought properly to come soon after the Supper to confirm in the affections of the saints the impression of the Supper, and thus it would intensify the spirit of thanksgiving and worship. That thought commends itself to me.

Ques. Has not there been a tendency to make it prohibitive to give expression to a word in the morning meeting?

C.A.C. I think we have suffered from the idea that a word was rather out of place. But you will have noticed all the time that this idea has been influential amongst the brethren it has never affected the most spiritual men.

The most spiritual men amongst us have habitually given a word in the morning meeting. Now that ought to have had some effect upon us.

Rem. It seems to indicate that there should have been a priestly state maintained, (Numbers 10:8).

C.A.C. I think that is important. It was said at the beginning that prophesying can only be taken up by spiritual persons. A spiritual person is not manufactured in a day. It is "spiritual manifestations" here; the Holy Spirit is not mentioned at all; it is the exercises and activities of spiritual persons in the assembly of God. There is no working whatever of natural ability or of the flesh contemplated, or of self-importance.

Every man who speaks has to be sensitive; he has to be on the alert all the time. As a word is being given the one who is giving it has to be sensitive that he may be conscious when the Spirit of God would use another vessel. "But if there be a revelation to another sitting there, let the first be silent". It indicates that a spiritual man would know when the Lord was going to act through another vessel. It shows that the Spirit delights to use different vessels. We might think that if the first speaks, if he was speaking spiritually, why could not the Spirit give him the revelation? But Paul suggests that the Spirit may be glad to use somebody else. However well one may be getting on he must be ready for the sovereign transfer to another vessel of what is edifying to the assembly. So a prophet has to be sensitive and to feel how long he is supported. A man giving a profitable word ought to be, as it were, hanging on the Lord all the time, and ought to know when the Lord's support is no longer with him; he would then sit down at once; he would not say all that he had on his mind. Sometimes we have so much on our minds that we could go on for a week, but the question

is, how much is the Lord supporting on this particular occasion? A brother may be supported by the Lord to a certain point, and if he had stopped at that point there would be a spiritual impression left on everyone. But if instead of stopping at that point he goes on, what he says after knocks out of the minds of the saints what he said before. We should often do more good if we were shorter in our addresses. I have no doubt that Paul knew exactly how far the Lord supported him. And I believe when the moment was reached that the Lord was not supporting him any longer, he would have sat down.

Rem. It has been said that if a brother takes part by giving a word in the morning meeting it is a levitical word, and has been called for by the meeting being in a low state.

C.A.C. There may be such a thing as that. We have the Lord's own words to the assemblies, and they took account of the moral conditions; there may be times when that has to be done, but that is not quite normal. If the Lord has to call pointed attention to things that are wrong, it is not normal assembly exercise, but it may be necessary. I have heard even in a morning meeting a word of very searching character, and sometimes everybody has felt that it was a needed word.

Ques. Would you consider that a prophetic word?

C.A.C. Yes, I should.

CHAPTER 14 VERSES 1 - 35

C.A.C. In chapter 12 we were seeing how the body was formed, and we saw that the members were viewed as

vessels in which the manifestation of the Spirit takes place. If this is to work in a practical sense we can all see that the animating power of the body must be the divine nature. So chapter 13 comes in to show that the gifts only serve their purpose as they are moved by love.

Chapters 12 and 13 do not contemplate the saints as being together at all. We are members of the body of Christ at all times, and all the members are to function properly at all times. There are no differences in chapters 12 and 13 between brothers and sisters; all are on one footing; all are vessels for the manifestation of the Spirit and for the operation of the divine nature. It is not what is for God, but rather what is for the mutual benefit of the members of the body. As members of the body of Christ we are set together permanently for mutual benefit and comfort and to co-operate as vessels of the Spirit. Whether we have ever seen each other does not matter in the least. I think it is a full time occupation in chapters 12 and 13; we are never off duty! There are no off-times when I can say I am not of the body of Christ. We have to see things as they are presented in Scripture and if two persons are in the light of it they can walk in the light of it and, in measure, in the power of it. They will benefit each other and there would be manifestations of the Spirit. Manifestations of the Spirit are not limited to occasions when we are together. If in visiting we bring spiritual comfort and help to a sick person they are spiritual manifestations.

Chapter 14 has to do with the saints as together, and now the action is limited to the men. When together we look for the saints to act intelligently; we do not look for the leading of the Spirit when together -- there is no such thing in Scripture.

Ques. What are spiritual manifestations?

C.A.C. You are to covet to have them. The activities of

the members are their own responsibility, acting, of course, in the Spirit and subject to the Lord. "And spirits of prophets are subject to prophets" (verse 32). Verse 30 is a matter of revelation; that is, some brother is inspired of God to make a revelation so the first is to be silent because another has a communication direct from God. We do not get revelations now. We have to remember that in the apostles' days all the Scriptures were not written. The chapter makes it very clear that the gift of tongues was too much in evidence: it was distinctly miraculous; in itself it did not possess any power of edification. If there was no interpreter, the speaker must be silent. But there is a selection of gifts and Paul presses upon us that we should make a selection of what we desire. In speaking, a man must be satisfied he is giving the mind of God, speaking as the oracles of God. "Love is not emulous", 1 Corinthians 13:4. That is, we are not to desire to be somebody else. But here you may be emulous: you are set at perfect liberty to get spiritual manifestations -- to get something for yourself.

Tongues have evidently ceased in the public history of the church; they did not continue long after the apostles' day. Since their day we have never known tongues in connection with the truth; they always appear to be connected with error in doctrine.

In verse 3 we get something like a definition of prophecy. That is to be coveted, to edify the assembly, to build up the assembly in the knowledge of divine Persons. In this chapter they are not together for the service of God; it is not the assembly as convened by the Supper. This character of meeting has been in abeyance for many years but there is nothing to hinder us from having it. A word would not be given at the Supper with the thought of prophecy or teaching or instruction, but a word would be given that would stimulate the service of God; it

would not be so much for the benefit of the saints. This chapter is for the benefit of the saints, not for the service of God. It is a meeting which gives very great scope for a variety of ministry. A word after the Supper must be suited to the occasion and is therefore limited; but on this occasion there is no limitation; there is room for a great variety of ministry. The word after the Supper should be in line with the object -- praise Christward or Godward.

"He that prophesies speaks to men" (verse 3). Prophecy is the utterance of a man who has a word from God for His people. A prophetic meeting has conditions under review, meeting every condition of soul present, even that of an unconverted man. I have seen such an one literally fall on his face on the floor.

Every brother should take up this exercise. Scripture does not contemplate a silent brother. It is open to every man to tell the Lord he earnestly desires to contribute something that will edify the assembly. It is want of exercise with us. I settle down to thinking God will never use me. Well, if I think that, He will not!

All ministry now must be according to Scripture.

Scripture is a wonderful treasure-house; but a prophet has to do with God, so he comes from God with a word suited to His people. Every form of ministry in this chapter can be found in Scripture and we come into the good of it as we come under the power of it. There is much for encouragement, and comfort, and edification; that is the advantage of such a meeting as this.

Rem. "The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus", Revelation 19:10.

C.A.C. That is the summing up of all prophecy. It is all comprised under that head. It all centres in that Person, we might say that kind of Man. Every feature found in Scripture that is pleasing to God is found in Jesus.

All speaking when the saints are together should be

intelligible. That is an important principle. "I will pray .. with the understanding; ... I will sing also with the understanding" (verse 15).

Rem. There is nothing in christianity that is not to be understood.

C.A.C. Quite so. A brother speaking intelligently would take account of the capacity of his hearers, whether new-born babes in Christ, or mature believers.

In a mixed company it is important that there should be a bit for the smallest babe. We have not only affections that need to be ministered to, but minds, capacity for understanding, and they need to be ministered to. Instruction is a great matter. Some of us know very little yet; we need instructing. The Lord refers to the prudent servant who knows how to give the measure of corn in season.

Well, this power of edification should be found in every company of saints, and there should be much prayer about it and an earnest seeking to have part in it. The Lord would have us all contributing to the edification of the assembly.

CHAPTER 14 VERSES 18 - 40

C.A.C. It is evident from this chapter that the saints are supposed to be capable of judging what is to edification. All are under responsibility in regard to the matter. There is no liberty granted to what is not edifying. He says as to prophecy, "Let the others judge". That is, we are to exercise our judgment on everything that is done in the assembly. Each brother that takes part does so intelligently, that is, with his mind; he does so in the

exercise of his understanding. If a man spoke a thousand words not in the power of the Spirit it would not edify and would be of no use.

Ques. What would be the basis of their judgment?

C.A.C. The basis of their judgment is their own spiritual understanding. Every spiritually minded person in the assembly will be conscious whether what is said is edifying and encouraging, making much of divine Persons and of the truth, and if there is instruction in it and profit. Everything is controlled by the mind in the assembly.

Rem. That is, subject to the Spirit, I suppose.

C.A.C. The Holy Spirit personally does not enter into this scripture; but here the intelligence which is formed by the Spirit is in the saints, their minds renewed as they walk in the Spirit. In chapter 10 Paul says, "I speak as to intelligent persons". The assembly is normally composed of intelligent persons. Those who take part do so intelligently and intelligibly. The importance and value of prophecy is stressed right through this chapter. The apostle is anxious that they, and we, should attach great value to what is edifying.

Those who speak with tongues today can generally give no account of it whatever. I have sometimes asked such to give me a sample of the ministry received; I have never yet obtained an answer.

Rem. At Pentecost there was the speaking with tongues.

C.A.C. Yes, there were a number from various nations present, and they said they heard every man in his own tongue the great things of God. It was most intelligible.

The apostle gives the utmost liberty for prophesying: "Ye can all prophesy". If a man has a word from God there is liberty for him to give it. He exercises his own mind on it and the saints exercise their minds on it. If

they judged a word was not of God I suppose they would tell him of it.

Rem. This chapter seems to stress the orderliness of the assembly. All is governed in intelligence by the mind.

C.A.C. Paul says, "In your minds be grown men". There is to be maturity and sobriety. Indeed the presence of God is to be realised according to verse 25 and also verse 33. Things are to be done comelily and in order, and saints have proved for a number of years that it is possible to have perfect order without any human arrangement whatever.

Ques. Was the conviction of the unconverted man caused by the prophecy raising a question that touched something in his own heart? It says, "The secrets of his heart are manifested".

C.A.C. Yes, there is great conscience searching power in the word of God.

Ques. What does a simple person mean?

C.A.C. Well, I suppose it would be an uninstructed believer. There are those who have a certain trust in the Saviour, but they do not know their right hand from their left, as we say; but then they get help when they come into the assembly. From this we understand that these meetings are open for all. It is possible for simple persons and unbelievers to come in. There is nothing to hinder their coming; we like to see them.

The apostle does not suggest to us that the assembly will come together in this way and nothing be ministered. If this is the divine order it is a question of faith. We can count upon God and upon the Lord to be faithful to supply what is needed. It supposes that we do not come to such a meeting empty. Usually the test is what is edifying on a particular occasion. It does not follow that every prophet is to speak on the same line. The question is whether it is suitable for the occasion, or will it keep

for a month or a year. Spiritual things do not deteriorate by being kept but acquire increase and quality. Sometimes I feel the most edifying thing I can do is to keep quiet.

The spirits of prophets should be under control. I have no respect for a man who says what he did not intend to say, for it is not God's way. Balaam was made to say what he did not intend to say! The prophet speaks with understanding; he feels there is a need for what he is saying, otherwise he should not say it. And the saints answer to it. We all know how good it is if a suitable hymn is given out; well that is like having a psalm.

Ques. What would you say about revelation?

C.A.C. We have not revelation today; then they did not have all the Scriptures. The mind of God was communicated by inspiration. That was not exactly in the responsibility of men. We do not look for revelation; it is completed: the ministry of the mystery completed the word of God. When people set up to have revelations we do not credit what they say. But I think the principle here applies. A brother may feel another has a more prophetic word than he has and may sit down. I remember once a brother sat down; another got up directly and a man was converted on the spot: that was putting it into practice. We ought all to be prepared to give way to something better.

Ques. Why is the number of prophets limited to three?

C.A.C. I think it is that the Lord knows some brothers have an unlimited capacity for communicating the truth, but the saints have a limited capacity to receive! Mr. Raven said he did not think the saints were able to take in more than three thoughts on any one occasion. That is, a brother gets up with the presentation of one thought and he develops it and a second does the same and a third the same, and then the saints have had enough.

Rem. Subjection is very important.

C.A.C. So that everything is under control. "God is not a God of disorder but of peace". Anything discordant cannot be of God. The instruction as to the women being silent is important as being of the divine order.

The saints were to recognise that the word of God had not proceeded from them. It had come to them and they were to be in subjection to it. It had not come to them only; it had come to all the assemblies, and they were all to come together in subjection to it. So everything is tested by the Lord's commandment, and if a man thought himself to be a prophet or spiritual he was tested by his subjection to it. There will always be blessing and edification where there is subjection to the authority of the Lord. He undertakes to bring about what is for His own glory and the glory of God.

If a man is ignorant, let him be simple and take that place. You generally find that those who are ignorant and want to learn get on all right.

Of course, we all know that this is an order that is entirely set aside in christendom generally, but that is no reason why we should set it aside.

CHAPTER 15 VERSES 35 - 50

C.A.C. I thought we might consider what is going to be gathered up in resurrection, and the glory with which God is going to clothe His saints in that world. It would be a very good thing for us to have more faith of resurrection.

Ques. Why do you emphasise the faith?

C.A.C. We all believe, as Martha did, that the dead will be raised, but has the moral force and import of it got hold of our souls so as to exert an influence on our every-day lives? If so, we should be ordering our lives, not in view of this present world, but of the resurrection world. A great deal depends on whether we are living in view of this age, or the age to come. You cannot live for the age to come except in the faith of resurrection. Certainly one who is living a self-indulgent life has not the faith of resurrection; he is on the line of, "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die". We may say, as all Christendom does, 'I believe in the resurrection of the dead', but it is quite another thing to have the faith of resurrection. Those who have that faith want to live on the line that there should be something God can raise for His world.

The Corinthians had not the faith of resurrection; they were living vain-glorious, self-indulgent lives, occupied with their own desires, ambitions and private objects. What the apostle brings before them as to resurrection was not merely to correct a doctrinal error, but to put them right in the centre of their moral being, to put the faith and light of resurrection in their souls, in order that they should live, not in view of this age, but in view of the coming age. It would transform the lives of the people of God if they had faith of resurrection.

Ques. Would you say what there is to raise?

C.A.C. Resurrection is presented in Scripture in a moral connection: that is to say, it is those who have done good who come forth to the resurrection unto life. They have so lived that, though they have gone down in death, it is impossible they should disappear. They must be raised for God's world; there was a moral beauty and excellence about them that must come up for God's world. We have been looking lately at the subject of incorruptibility. That which is morally incorruptible is

suited to be clothed upon with incorruptibility, even as to bodily condition.

Ques. Does the thought of resurrection refer to the body?

C.A.C. It refers to saints viewed as having been buried, not as having gone to heaven; it is "all who are in the tombs". We may look at the saints in two entirely different connections. When a brother or sister has departed this life, we say, 'He (or she) is with the Lord; his spirit is with the Lord'. Then again we say we buried him. Sometimes we identify the person with his spirit and sometimes with his body. It was said of the Lord, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay"; it was His dead body, but it was the Lord. We read too that pious men buried Stephen, Acts 8:2. The person is identified with his body; that is the key to the subject of resurrection. But there is another side of things; we are going to be clothed with our house from heaven; that comes down, not up.

The person, as identified with his body, is buried. But when you bury the body of a saint you bury something very wonderful, because you bury that which has been for years a temple of the Holy Spirit, a sanctified vessel, dedicated as a living sacrifice to God. When you bury a saint you sow a suitable seed for resurrection unto life, something has been identified with that body that is morally suitable for and indispensable to God's world; and if God did not bring it up again and give it a place in His world, there would be a divine element missing in that world. Think what a powerful effect the consideration of this would have on us in our daily lives. Resurrection comes in on the moral line, in connection with all that God can approve in the life of His saints here, all the beautiful spiritual elements that God must have for His world. God's grace produced them by divine teaching

and formation, and such features have been brought about in the saints that they are worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from among the dead. We might well ask ourselves, Am I worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from among the dead? Nothing will go into that world but what is suitable, and my concern is that I should be acquiring now, and displaying morally, the qualities suitable to God's world, so that if I come to be buried there might be something sown so suitable to God that He must bring it up in resurrection for His world.

Ques. What is the house from heaven?

C.A.C. That I should connect with the condition of purpose. We were singing just now about the Father as the spring and source of blessing, and how His purpose has taken form in a glorified Man. God has His purpose before Him in a glorified Man; and in His world He is going to clothe His saints with the blessedness of it. Resurrection is connected with what God is gathering up here to put in His world, but purpose is connected with what God is going to bring out of heaven and put on His saints. That is His purpose. There are these two lines; the moral line ends in resurrection, when all that has been wrought of God in His saints will be brought forth for His world.

It is inconceivable that what has been seen here in the saints who have lived during six thousand years, sorrowing, suffering, rejected and finally gone into the grave, should be lost! God is going to raise His saints and secure it all in resurrection for His world; it is too good for God to lose. Resurrection comes in on that line. We can understand the exercise of the apostle: he tells us in Philippians 3 how earnestly and untiringly he is seeking to arrive at the resurrection from among the dead.

Ques. Did God give a testimony in those whose graves were opened?

C.A.C. I think that was a testimony to the fact that the power of death was completely broken, and not only in Christ but in regard to saints. Wonderful things happened; the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom the moment Christ died -- the course was clear for God to come out in the blessedness of His love to men. And as soon as Christ rose from the dead many of the saints who slept arose and went into the holy city and appeared to many. They were approved for God's world. The moment Christ arose it came to light that He had companions. Christ was approved for God's world; no one would have any difficulty about that. How could the preciousness seen in Christ be left in death! He could not be holden by death, it was all wanted for God's world. But the same thing in principle was seen in application to saints. I do not think they ever died again.

There was no proper setting forth of resurrection in Scripture until Christ rose. That God had the power to raise was seen in the damsel brought to life, and in the young man and in Lazarus; it was resurrection power that did it, but they were not brought into the resurrection state, or incorruptibility, then. It was properly resuscitation rather than resurrection; but if God could bring back a dead man into his life of flesh and blood, it was clear proof that He could set aside the power of death; the power of God was there.

The Old Testament saints had the faith of resurrection: we are told of some that they were tormented, afflicted, and how they died not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Two things will eventually be brought together. What God effects by His grace in His saints, the moral fruits of His grace and working, are all suitable for His world. But

there is something else -- He is going to clothe His saints with the glory He has gathered up in a glorified Christ -- that is on the line of His eternal purpose. He thought of that before ever sin came in. Resurrection stands in reference to that condition of things where death had come in; if death had not come in there would be no need to talk of resurrection.

Ques. What about Moses and Elias in the transfiguration?

C.A.C. The two were conspicuous examples of men who were approved for God's world. It has often been said that Moses represents the dead -- we know he died and God buried him, but he had to be raised for God's world. Elijah represents the changed saints. He did not pass through death but was changed, taken to heaven in a whirlwind.

God will infallibly fulfil His purpose and clothe His saints with glory. In this chapter we get the thought of what is sown and what is raised; and then the thought of the heavenly One and our bearing His image. There is a heavenly character in what God brings out in His people through His working in their souls which leads them to live in the light of His world.

Ques. Would not that dispel all natural thoughts of resurrection?

C.A.C. Yes, we should have in our minds the thought of moral features. People lose sight of that and think of meeting their relatives in heaven, but in the sphere of spiritual things it is a question of moral kindred and likeness; we shall recognise the brethren by what they are morally, not by their photographs.

Ques. What came out in the Lord could not possibly remain in death; so should we desire to be on that line?

C.A.C. Yes, that is it. If we have faith of resurrection it would transform our practical lives. We should not want

to cherish or maintain a single feature that God could not secure for His world. If there is that about me which is not suitable for God's world, the sooner I drop it the better.

At the present time everything for God comes out in the bodies of the saints. The body of the saint is a vessel capable of being filled with divine light; one longs that the light should shine out.

Ques. What is death swallowed up in victory?

C.A.C. That is when every trace of the power of death has been removed, when saints are brought forth as invested with all that is glorious, death eternally annulled. Death is swallowed up -- it is a remarkable word, "that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life", 2 Corinthians 5:4. The apostle longed for that rather than for resurrection, "while yet we do not wish to be unclothed, but clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life". The apostle had the most extraordinary sense of the blessedness of being here in his body, and he did not want to be removed from the scene of testimony until the whole company should go together. He had an extraordinary sense of the glory and dignity of occupying a body here in which what is delightful to God and that has the fragrance of Christ could be exhibited.

Ques. What is the thought of Christ being magnified in the body, whether by life or death?

C.A.C. There (Philippians 1) Paul is saying he does not know which to choose; whether to depart or remain; the only thing before him is Christ being magnified. He had been moving about the country preaching Christ to magnify Christ. He was the minister of Christ wherever he went, a sweet odour of Christ, but now he is locked up in prison, and he says, 'I do not mind, the only thing I am set for is that Christ may be magnified. He was magnified when I

was moving about preaching, and now when locked up in prison I desire that He should still be magnified'. Paul was living for God's world.

Ques. Has the weakest saint an opportunity to display this?

C.A.C. Yes, it is a wonderful thing to have a vessel you can hold in honour and sanctification for God. The most gifted man in the world has not more than his body, and we each have one too.

Ques. What is the power of His resurrection?

C.A.C. The apostle was set to reach the spot Christ had reached, and to reach it the same way Christ had gone. Christ had trodden a pathway of suffering and death, and it had led in the power of resurrection to His being placed in glory, approved of God for His world. Paul says, 'That is what I am after, I will go the same way'. The faith of resurrection puts you on the line of suffering and death instead of aiming at something high, honour and position in this world. We do not know much of this, but Paul did. I do not think the outward man in Paul perished in a natural way, but in the service of love. It was not merely that Paul was getting old, or the earthen vessel breaking up by inherent weaknesses, but his was a Christ-devoted life that caused even his body to bear the marks of the dying of the Lord Jesus. If you had stripped the clothes off Paul you would have seen the marks he bore in his body of his devotion to Christ in the service of love here. The dying of Jesus was seen in the evidence there: you could see how he had expended himself in the service of love; that is the life of Jesus, a life of suffering love that goes down to death here, but that claims resurrection as its divine answer. It would be impossible for God to leave the moral elements of such a life out of His world. Death worked in Paul but life in the saints. Could a man be scourged and not bear the marks?

Ques. The Lord's visage was marred more than any man's; is that the same thought?

C.A.C. Yes, I think there is nothing more touching than people should say, "Thou hast not yet fifty years". John 8:57. That was said to One who was not much more than thirty years of age. His very Person carried the evidence of a suffering love that had never spared itself. That blessed One moved through this world at every step in the full light of God's world. Psalm 16 is the divine portrait of the life in which that blessed One walked through this world -- His trust was in God; He was separate from the idolatrous world; He loved the saints. He said, "Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt make known to me the path of life: thy countenance is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore". Psalm 16:10, 11. He moved in a path that was morally bound to end in resurrection; it was a necessity. Who can say that is not the path for the saint?

Ques. Is there a connection between His sufferings and what we read in Revelation 5:6, "A Lamb standing, as slain"?

C.A.C. I think the marks on the Lamb will be the sweetest and most affecting feature of His glory forever. He will never lose in the eyes of His saints the attractiveness of what He suffered in the service of His love -- it must all come out in resurrection. Nothing in the Lord Jesus could be missed from God's world. He went into death, but all His excellence must be brought out of death. At the end of each gospel we find that God shows how the features that marked Him in the days of His flesh, the wonderful beauty, perfection and grace seen in Him, have been carried through into resurrection. It raises the question with me, 'How much is there about me that it is absolutely necessary that God should carry

through into resurrection for His world?' To get that before us, and to keep it before us, would have a sound practical effect on our lives.

The apostle introduces in chapter 15 the thought of sowing. What is sown is only a bare grain, and God will give it a body as it pleases Him. Think of the saints as marked by the features of Christ -- features coming out in sorrow, persecution and trial, until at last the saint dies and is buried. What have you sown? God has valued every feature of Christ that has come out in that saint. Sometimes we can tell the Lord with great pleasure, as we bury a saint, that we have seen imperishable features in that saint, features that it is not possible should be left out of God's world. Outwardly there is a sowing in corruption, dishonour and weakness, but the saint is going to be raised in power and glory and incorruptibility. God is going to give that seed a body as it pleases Him. God is going to bring it up in all the splendour of His own appreciation of what came out in that body. God's system of glory is a very diversified one; there is every kind of glory in that system. We see everywhere, even in God's material universe, variety and diversity, some particular touch of glory about everything that God does. In a corresponding way we see some particular feature of glory about every saint. Saints are not duplicated; there is some distinctive feature of moral glory about every saint; it is all coming out for God's world. The glory that comes out in the saints now is the shining of the features of Christ, and that renders resurrection necessary; we ought to think more of it. It raises an exercise as to whether we are living and moving and thinking and feeling in the light and faith of resurrection. If we were we should not want to cultivate the natural but the spiritual, because the natural will not appear in God's world: those who appear there are the sons of God, the sons of resurrection. Let us

cultivate the spiritual, and if we do even the natural will become the vehicle for the spiritual to come out, an opportunity for the will of God to be worked out so that there will be a moral element connected with the natural which God can treasure up for His world. I do not think you can bring out the features of Christ without overcoming the natural and carnal element that is opposed to them; every bit of victory for God means a conflict.

The power by which the saints live to God now is resurrection power; Romans 6 comes in there, the saints now live morally in resurrection power. They account themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, "We have been buried therefore with him by baptism unto death, in order that, even as Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life". A saint walks in newness of life by resurrection power; it is the same power by which God will eventually raise the dead. As long as we are here we are in mortal bodies and subject to corruption, but by and by we shall be placed in incorruptible conditions. It is necessary the saints should be raised because in the mind of God they all live to Him -- "the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob", Luke 20:37. The Sadducees might say, They have been dead hundreds of years, but God says, "I am the God ...", not 'I was'. They are living men for God. If they live for Him they must be raised, it is an absolute necessity. What had come out in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were necessary elements for God's world. There was the calling of God in Abraham, leading to the refusal of the world, the breaking away from his country and kindred and father's house. What a blessed feature for God's world! Isaac was the child of resurrection; in him we see resurrection power by which everything for God is truly brought forth. In Jacob we see the result of God's

discipline. These three elements make up the life of faith: the call of God, resurrection power, and the fruit of the discipline of God in practically setting aside the crooked perversities of the flesh. When that is all secured the saints are brought to the point of worship -- Jacob ends as a worshipper. When we get such features in saints we have what is necessary for God's world, and He must raise it.

On the other hand God has His own eternal thoughts which have been His delight, treasured up in Christ before the foundation of the world. It was the greatest delight to God when Christ went back to Him in the condition of purpose; not as a risen Man only, but in the condition of purpose. That condition of man was before the heart of God before ever sin came into the universe. God has now that which was the delight of His purpose before the ages of time; He has it realised in His beloved Son as a risen and glorified Man; and He is going to clothe His saints with that.

There are the two lines: what God effects in the saints by His work, so that in result He raises them for His world; and that God brings down the glory of His eternal purpose, and clothes His saints with it for the satisfaction of His own love. It is beautiful to put the two together.

CHAPTER 15 VERSES 35 - 58

Rem. We were noticing that the apostle, at the commencement of the chapter, speaks of the gospel which he preached, and that it was according to Scripture. He mentions the great effects of the gospel and that they were all according to Scripture, and I suppose what

follows in the chapter is what is involved in the gospel; it shows us what a wonderful thing it is and what is involved in it. It goes far beyond the need of man and introduces the thought of divine purpose.

C.A.C. Yes, and death and resurrection are the way into divine purpose. Therefore Christ has gone that way. It is important for us to see the simple fact that the Lord's life here upon earth and His death and His resurrection are all on the way to the accomplishment of divine purpose in Him. The purpose of God does not actually come into view until Christ takes His place in heaven.

I suppose the thought of seed introduces the idea of purpose. Something is in view in the sowing of the seed which does not actually appear in the seed itself. It is bare grain; but everyone who sows seed has in view the complete, perfect result, the harvest; the idea is that God is going to perfect all that is in His own mind and resurrection is necessary for that. Nothing can put away sin but death, and nothing can annul death but resurrection; and resurrection is in view of our being quickened to live in an entirely new order of things which is according to divine purpose, something which was in the mind of God before ever He made man of dust.

I suppose the apostle brought all this truth before the Corinthians not merely to counteract the error that was found in the minds of some, but to develop spirituality, and I think spirituality really brings us on to the ground and into the line of divine purpose. A spiritual man would have before him what was in the mind and heart of God.

Ques. "The second man, out of heaven" -- just to what does that refer?

C.A.C. It has been said, and I think it is right, that the second Man is the thought of pattern, and all that God has in view in the purpose of His love is patterned in the

second Man, and He is out of heaven. That is, it does not exactly refer to what He was in the days of His flesh.

Ques. What is exactly the difference between the two expressions, "last Adam" and "second man"?

C.A.C. The last Adam is said to be "a quickening spirit" -- life-giving Spirit. The first man was Adam: that is, we think of a person when we say, "the first man", a person that died in the year 930 of the world's history. That was the end of the first man. He was a living soul, but the last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. He is One who is able to quicken with His own life those who come under His headship, so that they are competent to live in the region of divine purpose. I think it is important to notice the difference between the bearing of resurrection and the bearing of quickening. I expect it has been noticed by all of us that when the two things are mentioned together they are mentioned in that order -- resurrection first and then quickening, which intimates clearly that quickening has to do with a life that is beyond death. I have put it sometimes in this way: resurrection stands relative to all that is behind it, but quickening stands relative to all that is before it.

Ques. Is quickening the power to live in the enjoyment of all that God has purposed?

C.A.C. Yes; we are not quickened by the last Adam for this world, nor for things connected with this life, but we are quickened by the last Adam in order that we may live in that region of purpose; and everyone that is introduced to that region is going to be patterned after the second Man who is the heavenly One. Now resurrection is on the way to that. Resurrection is relative to all that is behind it. It is the mighty power of God coming in relative to all that has been occasioned by sin. Sin has come in by man, and death has come in by sin. Now God's answer to all that is resurrection. It takes man completely out of all

that he was in naturally; but that is in view of his being quickened so as to live in a new region, a heavenly region, and to live in that region as quickened by the last Adam and as patterned after the second Man.

This is not exactly a question of what is moral. The apostle is not occupied with the moral side here, but that as we have borne the image of the one out of the earth made of dust so we shall bear the image of the One out of heaven. It is a heavenly Christ who is the second Man.

Rem. It is not Christ on earth.

C.A.C. No, I do not think it refers to that. Of course, we know that personally everything that attaches to Christ was there essentially, but the setting of the second Man is that He is the heavenly One, and the purpose of God is portrayed in the heavenly One. We are not going to be like Christ as He was here. We are going to be like Christ as He is now in heaven.

Rem. So that the perfect Man had to die.

C.A.C. That is, to close up everything connected with the first man. Everything that came in by the first man had to be closed up in such a way as to be satisfactory to God, and it was closed up in the death of Christ; the resurrection of Christ is the way by which we enter into the sphere of the purpose of God. It was not in the purpose of God that we should be like Christ in the days of His flesh, but it was in the purpose of God that we should be like Him as the heavenly One.

Ques. Would it be right to say that the Lord's being here was connected with the will of God, but the Lord in heaven is connected with the purpose of God?

C.A.C. Yes, I think so. God had to be glorified in regard of all that had come in in connection with the man made of dust. He has been glorified, and in resurrection the Lord emerges from all the consequences of what came in by the man made of dust. He has been in death,

He has been in burial, because if He had not been buried the thing would not have been complete.

He removed every liability that had come upon the inheritance, and He has done it all in absolute perfection. So that nothing need be added to what has been done on that line. In the death and burial of Christ there is the entire end and removal of everything that was unsuitable to the purpose of God. It is good to look at it from that side, not simply as meeting need; it did meet need but it removed everything that was unsuitable to the purpose of God. That is true for every believer. It is not any special class; it is not some extra-special people who are going to be raised, though there are some who teach that now.

Ques. Was not the Lord Jesus also the "bare grain"?

C.A.C. Quite so, because all the purpose of God was inherent in Him. The potentiality of it all was there to be brought into fruition through death. He was the "grain of wheat" that fell into the ground and died to bear much fruit. It is all in view of the purpose of God.

Rem. We have to make this distinction in regard of the Lord, that there was no question of corruption with Him.

C.A.C. So that you could not say of the Lord that He was sown in corruption. That is very important to keep in mind. He saw no corruption, because corruption is the evidence that death has got the victory. God's Holy One saw no corruption.

Ques. Do you distinguish between quickening and resurrection?

C.A.C. Yes, very much so, because resurrection takes you out of all connected with the former history. Resurrection took Christ out of everything that was connected with the former history of man. He came into it in grace. He bore the sin; He entered into death; He took everything that had come in upon man made of dust, but in

resurrection He emerges from it all. That is the resurrection side. It is emerging, just as in resurrection a man emerges from the grave; he leaves all that behind. Now what is going to happen to him? Well, he is going to be quickened. It is always in that order wherever you find resurrection and quickening together; resurrection comes first. You are brought out of the old, but now you are going to live in the new, and the last Adam has quickened everyone who stands in relation to Him; He has quickened them with the life of purpose.

Rem. It is those who are raised that are quickened.

C.A.C. Yes, they are raised and quickened so that they can live in the region of the purpose of God. Of course, all this is anticipated morally: we have come, through infinite grace, under the quickening power of the last Adam now in a moral sense, so that we can touch the region of purpose, and we can live in it. We can respond to God in fresh affection in the region of His own purpose. I suppose, in order to reach the purpose of God in an experimental way we have to learn death; that is, there is no other way in. That which is sown is not quickened unless it die. I believe there is a great moral principle in that: death is upon every single thing that I derive from the man who was made of dust, and if I am to live in a region where death is not I must learn death to that order. So that a moral learning of death is necessary if we are to live in the region of the purpose of God.

Ques. Would you link this with the new covenant?

C.A.C. Yes. I think the new covenant will really be brought into result on the principle of resurrection. As regards Israel, they are a valley of dry bones, and they are very dry! There is no remedy except in the power of resurrection and quickening; so that the new covenant will be entered into and enjoyed on the principle of life out of death. They will have to learn that death is upon

them. I do not think that any person of Adam's race who has to do with God is excluded from learning that death is upon him, and in learning that lesson he acquires power to apprehend the wonderful fact that the last Adam quickens that we may live in a region outside of death altogether. The wonderful triumph of God! We may well say, "Thanks to God, who gives us the victory". He puts us in possession of the complete victory before we are actually in it; but Christ is in it, and it is far better for us that He should be in it.

Ques. Were the Lord's movements in John 20 on the quickening line?

C.A.C. I think so. That is the scripture which I should use to illustrate the thought of quickening, because He breathed into them. It was a wonderful thing to breathe into them. He imparted to them His own life and in that life they were rendered competent for the enjoyment of the privilege of association with Him, and they were also competent for testimony as sent by Him into the world.

Rem. That was life out of death -- the other side of death.

C.A.C. Yes.

Ques. Would you say that the whole of John's gospel leads up to that?

C.A.C. It has it in view. I think that the work of God from new birth onward has the purpose of God in view. When man is born again there is the seed of divine purpose deposited there, and it has in view what God is going to do in the resurrection and heavenly world. In John's gospel that is particularly in view because it is to a large extent the gospel of purpose. It is not like Luke, the gospel of grace meeting man in all his need. John is the gospel of purpose and the two go on together; they are bound together. Paul speaks to Timothy of God having saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according

to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, and the two things go together -- "Purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time, but has been made manifest now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has annulled death, and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings", 2 Timothy 1:9, 10. That is very much what we get here: it is life and incorruptibility.

Ques. You spoke of new birth and quickening. Are they the same thing?

C.A.C. Oh no, not a bit of it! New birth has quickening in view. New birth is the initial work of God by which a man becomes sensitive Godward. I have compared it sometimes to the sensitising of a photographic plate. It undergoes a process which makes it sensitive to light. Now that is like new birth. A man that is born anew becomes sensitive to divine light so that it acts upon him and there is an element of moral cleanness introduced into the soul. That is all, you can say, on moral lines, but it has in view the purpose line. There are two great lines in Scripture: there is the moral line and the purpose line, and presently, of course, in resurrection they will both coalesce. There is the line on which God has worked with us morally, and there is another line on which we are looked at as subjects of purpose, and they both coalesce eventually.

Ques. The order in John's gospel is born again, resurrection and quickening. Is that the moral order, the order in which they are understood?

C.A.C. I think so. God always has His purpose in view, and I suppose Paul is leading the saints to contemplate what God has in purpose. He calls attention to the varied works of God which can be seen in nature -- different seeds each having in view its own result, and different kinds of flesh, and different kinds of bodies. He is

getting higher and higher to the heavenly bodies, all leading to the distinctiveness of what is connected with divine purpose, with what is connected with the last Adam and the second Man.

Rem. The Corinthians appear to have spent a great deal of time on that which will go into death, but the apostle seems to emphasise that which is coming out of death.

C.A.C. Yes, and it would make us all spiritual if we were just to recognise the importance of what is coming out of death. There are a great many things that are attractive, but they are going into death; but there is another order of things which is going to emerge from death, and we want to cultivate that.

Ques. Has the reference to sowing any moral bearing on our exercises?

C.A.C. I think it has. What is sown has a distinct relation to what is raised. To put it simply, we ought to feel, when we bury a saint, that we can say that we are sowing a seed which is suitable to spring up in resurrection to take its place in the world of purpose. That is, we look at the saint's body as identified with the presence of the Spirit and with all that has come out by the Spirit in that body. We bury the saint -- Scripture always puts it that way: it never says we bury his body. "Pious men buried Stephen", Acts 8:2. All that the man is is identified with his body. It was so with the Lord: the angel said to the women, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay", Matthew 28:6. It is very wonderful. Now you think of that in relation to the burial of a saint. You think of all that has been identified with that body through the grace and work of God. That body has been the temple of the Holy Spirit; that body has been a member of Christ; is not that a seed suitable to spring up in the region of purpose? When we bury our brother or our sister we

should have a sense of the dignity and value that attaches to that body. We ought to be able to say that we are sowing a seed that is suitable to be raised at the resurrection of the just.

Rem. That is a very precious consideration -- very precious!

C.A.C. It is important that the work of God is identified with the body in which it was worked out, and that is really what gives value to resurrection. Certain elements have appeared and have been developed by the work of God in a saint and those elements are indispensable in God's eternal world. He must have them in His spiritual and imperishable universe. So that resurrection is an absolute necessity from God's stand-point.

Ques. What have you to say about the treasure in earthen vessels?

C.A.C. The idea is that we have the treasure in earthen vessels now. We have the treasure in vessels made of dust, but God is going to have the treasure in a vessel that is suitable. The jewel is going to be put in a casket worthy of it, to God's eternal praise.

Rem. God is not going to lose any of the results of His work.

C.A.C. I think that underlies this thought of the seed. The apostle introduces the thought of seed first in connection with the necessity of death and quickening; but then when he comes to speak of the burial of the saint he speaks of sowing. Well, we do not sow without some expectation of a crop, and the saints are going to be raised in the condition of purpose. How wonderful to take hold really of that! When you bury a saint you think of all that has come out morally in him. His body has been the temple of the Holy Spirit, and things have been worked out in that body that are morally of God; but that body is not in the condition of purpose, and never was so. I do

not know anything more dignified than the burial of a saint. It is the most dignified moment in his history, because then you can say, 'Victory'. I would not say 'Victory' now. There may be, perhaps, a long chapter of defeat in front of me; but when the saints come to bury me they can say 'Victory' because everything connected with responsibility is ended, and the next time you see that saint whom you bury he will be in the condition of purpose. It is very fine!

Rem. In conformity to His body of glory!

C.A.C. Yes, "it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body". That is, it is all in the condition of purpose.

Ques. Would you say that the apostle would have us to anticipate that in the Spirit?

C.A.C. That is exactly what he had in mind in writing this, to carry them a step further than he had in chapter 11. It is all very well to go as far as chapter 11, but one should not stop there, because if the Lord convenes us in assembly by the Supper He sets us together in the presence of His having gone into death, and all that has been secured on the line of the will of God and the covenant; but the will of God and the covenant both have in view the purpose of God. So that after the breaking of bread, and after we have enjoyed together the blessed communion connected with the accomplished will of God and the covenant, I believe the Lord's intention is that we should pass on into the region of purpose; and if Christ gets His place as Head in our midst He comes there in relation to purpose. If Christ takes His place as Head -- He is the last Adam and He is the quickening Spirit -- He would give us the consciousness of living with Him as quickened by Him, and living in the region of purpose.

We reach it spiritually. We are still in flesh and blood condition but we can touch it spiritually. All that the apostle speaks of here in connection with the last Adam and the second Man, the heavenly One, can be touched spiritually now, and I believe it is touched in the assembly when conditions are suitable for it. Paul could not develop this as teaching in connection with the assembly because the Corinthians were unspiritual; they were carnal and there was such gross disorder and such very diminutive stature that he could not develop the thought of purpose in relation to them; but in chapter 15 he brings it all out in connection with resurrection. So you can understand that he begins the next chapter by a reference to the first day of the week which is a purely spiritual reference.

Rem. Your numerous references to purpose stir up our hearts to know more of what purpose involves.

C.A.C. Well, it says, "Some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame". Now that ignorance of God is relative to purpose; so that these unhappy and misguided men who were saying that there was no resurrection of the dead were entirely ignorant of God in relation to His purpose. We do not really know God until we know His purpose. The nature of God, the wisdom of God and the glory of God all come out when you see His purpose, when you see how entirely He has cleared the scene of everything that came in by the man made of dust, and has established a new scene in connection with the last Adam and the second Man, where all is heavenly and where there is not a single thing about it that does not answer to the expectation of God to the fullest extent. I think it is very important that we should learn to think of things on the line of purpose.

Rem. That would help us to "be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord".

C.A.C. And it teaches you to look at the saints in the light of the calling. I do not know anything more important in a practical sense than that we should look at each other in the light of the calling, because there is no imperfection in the calling, and the calling is according to purpose. Now when you think of a brother or sister you may see blemishes and defects, and we can all see them in each other when we get on that line, but if you think of the saints on the line of calling -- and I would say without hesitation that the greatest thing you can say of any saint is that he is one of God's called ones, because everything is bound up in that -- what a wonderful company it is! You feel that the greatest honour that God could confer upon you is to allow you to sit down with a few people whom He has called according to purpose. It is fine! There is nothing small about that! You begin to realise that they are a great people -- "Thy people ... a great people", 1 Kings 3:8. It is not as though you were thinking of the saints in an untrue way. The greatest reality possible about us is that we are called ones; so that when you can discern evidence of a work of God in a soul, however initial or small it may be, you feel yourself entitled to conclude that he is a called one; and it is, "Whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son ... But whom he has predestinated, these also he has called; and whom he has called, these also he has justified", Romans 8:29 - 30. He is obliged to wipe out everything connected with the guilty history -- "but whom he has justified, these also he has glorified". It is a golden chain stretched across time into eternity and no power of earth or hell could ever break the links in that chain. When you think of the brethren in that light you think truly of them. You may look at me and see all sorts of things, but what about the calling? What gives me value, if I am any value at all, is

the calling. So Paul says, "For consider your calling, brethren" 1 Corinthians 1:26. Just look around and see these poor, simple, weak things, people of no account in this world -- oh, but they are called! They are called! What dignity! It is all going to issue in that wonderful scene where everyone will bear the image of the heavenly One.

TEMPLE CHARACTER

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 2 Corinthians 6:14 - 18; Ephesians 2:19 - 22

C.A.C. I thought it might be profitable if we looked at the scriptures that refer to the saints in temple character. The fact that the saints have temple character is a very important and prominent part of the truth, and it is intended to have a very elevating and sanctifying effect. The temple thought is presented in three ways in the scriptures that have been read. It is looked at in an individual aspect, in a local aspect and in a universal aspect. God would use this truth to elevate us, so that we should regard ourselves and the assembly in a very holy light. God's way to deliver us from what is unworthy of Himself is not only by pointing out that it is wrong, but by giving us an enlarged conception of what is in His own mind. The Corinthians were in danger of falling into practices which were of the most degrading character morally, but the way of divine wisdom to deliver them was to call their attention to the holy and exalted character that attached to them; every one of them had a body which was a temple.

W.P. Is that true of every believer?

C.A.C. It is true of every one who has received of God His Holy Spirit. Paul calls upon the saints at Corinth to recognise it. They had not recognised it. It is one thing to have the Spirit, and quite another thing to recognise the presence of the Spirit, and the holy character of the vessel in which the Spirit is, that is, the body of the believer.

Each of our bodies is a temple, a shrine. So that the body of the saint has a very holy character. It is not to be regarded as for common or unclean use.

J.H.F. What is the difference between what you are speaking of and scriptures in Ephesians, "after that ye believed, ye were sealed" Ephesians 1:13?

C.A.C. Well, that shews how the gentiles got the Spirit. When they heard the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation, they were sealed. If people receive the gospel, God bears witness to them by giving them His Spirit. God is very pleased with those who receive His precious gospel; they become so valuable in His sight that He puts the seal of His Spirit in them. But here in 1 Corinthians 6 it is a question of being purchased. In the epistle to the Romans the believer's body is looked at as being at his own disposal. We have all noticed that our body, according to Romans, is at our own disposal, and God brings wonderful motives to bear upon us, that we may render the reasonable service of presenting our bodies to Him. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service". Romans 12:1. Your body from that point of view is at your own disposal. One would like to ask every young believer here, 'What have you done with your body? Has it really been presented to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable?' The point of view in Romans is that God's precious grace in Christ and His compassions have so affected us that we are glad to take up the privilege of presenting our bodies to God. He loves that we should do so, and allows us the privilege of doing it.

But He does not put it in that light in the scripture that we read in 1 Corinthians 6. He says, as it were, the body is not at your disposal at all; it is a purchased thing, and

belongs wholly to the purchaser. We are bought with a price and that includes the body. It has been purchased, and the One who purchased it, purchased it for a holy use. He purchased it to make it a temple.

S.J.P. What do we understand by a "temple"?

C.A.C. It speaks of that which stands in immediate relation to God, and which has holy character, and we should behave wonderfully as individuals if we were governed by the thought that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. He bought us that He might give us His Spirit. That was His object in buying us, and we have no option in the matter.

J.B. The Lord used the word temple of His own body.

C.A.C. Yes, that is a wonderful thing. We can see in the case of the Lord how holy the temple was. There was no defilement there, all was suitable to God. But then, through redemption, God has brought about for His own pleasure, that these bodies should be temples of the Holy Spirit. Then we should be very careful where we take them, and what we do with our hands and feet, and our lips; our bodies are temples.

T.P. Why do we get the difference you refer to between Romans and Corinthians? Is the thought of being set in connection with others in contrast to what is individual in Romans?

C.A.C. Corinthians has in view the local assembly, but the basis of things lies in the individual aspect of things. The bodies of the saints are referred to here in remarkable ways; we are told that the body is "for the Lord". It is a question here of the rights of God and the rights of the Lord acquired through purchase. We have to own the right that has been acquired, so that our bodies are not to be for our own will and pleasure but are to be for the Lord. That is the character of the body of every believer. And then He says, "Your bodies are members of Christ".

Think of that! He says, "Shall I then, taking the members of the Christ, make them members of a harlot?" If I take my body for any unholy use, I am really stealing what belongs to Christ, and it is sacrilege. We get careless about things sometimes, but it is really sacrilege to use our bodies in any way but what is holy. It is a great thing to see the immense value that God attaches even to our bodies.

W.P. Is that how the saints are looked at, as holy?

C.A.C. Yes, surely. So that we have only got one thing to do with these bodies, that is, to glorify God in them. They do not belong to us, they belong to God by purchase; we were purchased for a holy purpose, that God might have a number of shrines, in the midst of an impure and unholy world, where His Spirit is. How elevating it is! It is one of the most practical and sanctifying realities of Scripture.

W.P. We should be very careful, should we not, what we do with any member of our body?

C.A.C. I think so; remembering that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit would give a holy dignity to the saints. From that standpoint nothing would be common that a saint has to touch. His body, his hands, his feet, his lips, or any member of his body, have temple character. It puts a holy touch upon every detail in practical life.

J.H.F. In saying this was he not striking at the root of all the trouble in Corinth?

C.A.C. Yes; and he brings in, you might say, the highest thoughts to correct the most debased thoughts, and that is worthy of God. He corrects the very lowest moral degradation by calling attention to the highest conception that He could bring before us. He elevates us thus, right above our natural level, above the level of all that we are

as men and women living in this world. "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit".

We can see how such individuals would provide suitable material for the local assembly. The local assembly is the assembly of God; it is not simply a company of believers; it is that surely, but it is the assembly of God, and therefore everything in it must be suitable to God. In the third chapter Paul calls attention to the collective character which they had locally. They were collectively "temple of God"; they had that character for the Spirit of God dwelt in them. This is brought out in its bearing on what we introduce to the assembly locally. We all introduce something; we cannot stand in relation to the local assembly without introducing something. Now, what kind of elements are we introducing to the local assembly? Are we bringing in such things as wood and grass and straw? Or are we bringing in gold and silver and precious stones? A great responsibility rests upon us, brothers and sisters, young as well as old, that we only bring in that which will adorn the temple. Wood, grass and straw may be very useful things in their place, but they would be no adornment to a temple! Gold and precious stones were in Solomon's temple; all the things were precious and the temple was adorned; it was not a bare structure. We must not think of the assembly as a bare structure; it is to be adorned, and every one of us is responsible for the adornment of the temple. We read that Solomon overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty (2 Chronicles 3:6); it was adorned. The thought of the temple is introduced collectively in this chapter to put us on the line of adorning the local company where we are with things that have value in the sight of God. The youngest brother or sister can bring something of that character to adorn the temple.

F.W. Is not that very important, that we all bring something?

C.A.C. Yes; the adornments of the temple are all of spiritual character, and the youngest of us can bring spiritual elements; and if we are consistent with the truth that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit we shall bring something of a spiritual nature to the assembly. We shall not bring in the worldly or the natural or the fleshly in any form; we shall bring spiritual elements. I think the Lord would greatly encourage the youngest of us to be exercised about adorning the temple in its local character.

S.J.P. Peter speaks of the adornment of a meek and quiet spirit.

C.A.C. That gives the idea of ornamentation. The disciples pointed out the temple to the Lord, that it was adorned with goodly stones and consecrated offerings; it was an adorned structure. Now the Lord would have us think of the local assembly in that character, and to remember that when we come to the meetings we are either bringing wood, grass or straw, or gold and silver and precious stones. We are either bringing something to detract from the adornment or something that will add to it. It is very exercising. I do not suppose any of us would be guilty of corrupting the temple of God. That is another thing. "If any one corrupt the temple of God, him shall God destroy". That is a man who deliberately seeks to falsify the holy character of the temple. He is a teacher of some evil doctrine which is contrary to the character of the temple altogether. I do not suppose there is anyone here who would dare to think of doing that; but then, we may bring wood, grass and straw!

J.H.F. Would you say that it is not so much activity here but what we are?

C.A.C. Well, I think it refers to believers as

responsible builders, but while it would apply in a special way to those who teach and who take part in the meetings, it applies in principle to every brother and sister. What are we bringing? Is it a detraction from the holiness and glory of the temple or is it some addition to it? The youngest believer is privileged to bring some addition. We are all responsible to bring what will correspond with the foundation, and what will adorn the shrine.

Ques. Would it be that if we have not regarded our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, and not walked quietly and meekly during the week, when we come together we shall not really contribute?

C.A.C. Well, I think that is so. If I have been using my body for my own pleasure in the week, I could hardly expect to bring gold and silver and precious stones; I have not been where these things could be found. If I have been finding a good part of my pleasure in reading what was connected with the world, I shall not find gold or silver or precious stones there; I shall gather up plenty of wood and grass and straw. I cannot come from the atmosphere of the world, and from the conditions that belong to natural human life, and bring anything that is of value with God. It is the young believer who has been in prayer, and who has been looking into the word, and asking God to give him more precious thoughts of Christ, and a better knowledge of Himself, who has the secret exercises that furnish one with gold and silver and precious stones. Precious things are gathered up from the secret exercises of the private life. So that the assembly is adorned -- the temple is adorned -- when you come there. If a young believer carefully and prayerfully reads the word every day when leisure time comes, and waits on God in prayer, and cultivates links with the brethren, the result will be an acquisition of gold and silver and precious stones, so that when he comes on the Lord's day

morning, or to the prayer meeting or the reading, there is something in his heart that is of value to God. And that enriches the assembly, and adorns the temple; it is beautiful to be on that line.

This is all intensely practical and real. These are the greatest realities that subsist at the present moment; we need to get rid of all common religious notions and to get into the precious reality of the thoughts of God. You may depend upon it, it means profound satisfaction and joy for every one of us, and it means glory to God in our individual course, and glory to God in the adorning of the assembly, as having temple character. There is plenty of room for adorning.

Ques. And would this come out in the spirit of a sister as much as in a brother?

C.A.C. I wish we could get hold of the fact that the assembly is formed of the material that is there. It is material. Suppose a man prays a beautiful prayer just because he has learned how to express himself readily, and has got some knowledge of the Scriptures, there is no adorning in that. The adorning comes out in the substance of things in a man's heart, so that there is substance and real value in it. Those who take part in the meetings should be much exercised; I think I can say I am exercised myself that what one says and does in the meetings should have true spiritual value. Not simply that we are saying words, but that the words express substance in our souls; we have gold and silver and precious stones; there is something substantial and valuable that can become adornment for the temple.

The temple in its greatest character exists today. There is a greater significance about the temple today than there was in Solomon's temple, and more significance than there will be in the day of millennial glory; and we should cherish the thought of the assembly as having that

character. In the world there is no place for God or Christ, but there is a sphere where there is place for nothing else. I have thought of a word in Psalm 29:9; it says, "In his temple doth every one say, Glory!". There is a great thought in that. If the local assembly is the temple, if it has temple character in my heart, I shall come to it to say, Glory! I should say that was a bit of gold. I believe God would delight to give us immunity from what is low or base by clothing us with glory, so that even the youngest believer might come to the meetings bringing glory. Every bit of the knowledge of God that I have is surely glory; all that I know of Christ is glory; and the Spirit is the Spirit of glory, and we come to the assembly -- the temple -- to say, Glory! That is to say, no one introduces there a low or mean thought, every one brings glory, whether he opens his mouth or not. This is for sisters also; we all come to say, Glory! We come to a spot marked by holiness -- a spot altogether outside the whole sphere of human thoughts. The idea of the temple was brought in, I have no doubt, to the Corinthians to shut out of their minds every human thought. God would give us such a sense of the character of the temple that there might be nothing present to our hearts but the consciousness of glory. That is the true character of the local assembly. You may see it externally as a very feeble kind of thing, but the true character of it is glory. And you come in as a contributor; you come in saying, Glory! Any brother taking part has to be very careful that he does not introduce an element that is not marked by glory. Exercises as to this would elevate us.

We are not set to manufacture gold or silver or precious stones, or glory; they are all conferred. They wait upon us. The ministry of grace confers everything that is precious and valuable, and if we open our hearts to take it in we shall be furnished so that we can bring

adornment to the local company. This results in a character of things being maintained that is suitable to God, and in which He finds pleasure, but this demands separation.

The verses we read in 2 Corinthians 6 shew that to be the temple of the living God demands separation from the idolatrous world and from what is unclean. It is in the light of the truth of the temple that we take up a position of intelligent separation. We begin to look at things from the light of what suits the temple. There is nothing in common between the temple of God and idols, and we cease to talk about whether there is any harm in this or that, we begin to think of things in relation to the temple, and of what suits the temple. That is how true separation comes about. We take up the place of separation in view of enlargement. That is the idea. Paul calls upon the Corinthians to be enlarged, and he shews them that the way to enlargement was to come into separation from everything that was not suitable to the temple of the living God. We cannot keep up links of friendship with people who are of the world, and we cannot keep up unrestrained links even with natural relations who are of the world, without sacrificing something of what belongs to the temple. The true principle of separation is that we cannot afford to be entangled with unsuitable things; we really cannot afford it; we are connected with such a glorious system of things that we cannot afford to be crippled by maintaining associations that are not in keeping with it. We begin to see that things are worthless that are highly esteemed amongst men; we look down upon them as feeling how unworthy they are of the temple of the living God. I think the light of the temple would greatly help us.

And then we get the universal thought in Ephesians 2. All the building is fitted together, and it increases to a holy temple in the Lord. The effect of being right individually --

being governed by the light of the temple as to our own bodies -- adjusts us and prepares us to come into the assembly, the local company, with a sense of its temple character. It is holy. Nothing is suitable there but what is morally glorious. And there we learn to look out and take account of things universally. Paul's thought for the Corinthians was enlargement, and as we are enlarged, we come to think of the assembly in its universal character, and to see that it is increasing to a holy temple in the Lord. Things have not reached finality. The temple character is to be constantly increasing and it is being added to in every part of the world. Every contribution of glory that is found in the local assembly contributes to the universal glory; it contributes to the temple character of the whole assembly upon earth; there is an additional accession of light as to the mind of God. If we get a little accession of light as to the mind of God here in this place, that is intended to contribute to the divine light that fills the universal temple.

It is very exercising to think that we are just at the end of the assembly period. If God's thoughts are to reach fulness and finality as held spiritually in the assembly, there is a great deal to be quickly done. "In whom all the building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord" suggests to me that God intends to develop the temple thought in its completeness before He takes the assembly to heaven. All the ministry that is going on, and the fellowship that we enjoy locally, all spiritual activities in the assembly, each one bringing some element of glory to it, are all in view of the completion of God's thought as to the truth of the temple. It is in the Lord, shewing that it applies to the present time. Things will not be "in the Lord" in heaven; it is down here that God is working out this great universal design, and we can all contribute to what God has in mind. Solomon's temple was seven years

in building, and I believe, if we may apply it in that way, we have got very near the end of the seven years! The last bit, so to speak, of the structure and adornment will soon be added now. What a wonderful dignity it puts upon us, that we can be in line with these great and holy thoughts of God, and really contribute to the completion of the divine thought. So that there should be that upon this earth before the Lord comes which has come to the full measure of the glory and intelligence that belongs to the temple. I think that is something for us to pray about.

One would expect great expansion in the closing period of the assembly's history here.

The temple was next to the oracle in Solomon's temple. The holy of holies is called the oracle, and then the temple comes next to it, for we are told that the temple was before the oracle. The full mind of God is in the oracle, as known in Christ, and the temple comes next to it. In the temple there is, so to speak, immediate nearness to every thought that is in the mind of God. And then the house takes character from the temple. The house is a wider thought. It covers the whole edifice where God dwells. So we read of "the temple of the house" (1 Kings 6:3) shewing that the temple is more inward. The whole mind of God is in "the oracle". Then the temple is before it as the place where the Holy Spirit can give light. Then the house is governed by the light that is in the temple. If we are not right in temple character we shall not be right in house character. We come in that way from the temple to the house. The house is more public -- a place of right behaviour and of God's activities, the pillar and base of the truth. But the temple is the internal thing, where priests go, and where all takes character from the oracle.

The house is more general and public, but the temple idea is more the secret of what is in the mind of God; it is where everything that has the character of mystery is

understood and entered into. I am sure these thoughts are worth praying over in secret with the Lord, so that the great conception of the temple might be more definitely before us.

J.H.F. I should like to ask, how do you connect Ephesians 2:7, 8 with what you have been saying?

C.A.C. Well, they bring out the wonderful place that the saints have as quickened with the Christ and raised up together and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. God has elevated the saints to a majestic height of blessing, and He has done it with a view to what He will display in the ages to come. He will display the surpassing riches of His grace in that way. But at the end of the chapter we get the present time. What is brought about at the present time is that the saints, after being elevated to the supreme height of God's thoughts of blessing in the heavenlies, come down, as it were, to take up the place down here of fellow citizens, and of the household of God, and the holy temple, and the habitation of God in the Spirit. It is the dignity of the place that we can have down here; as having known the liberty of heaven we can come down and take up this exceedingly dignified position down here. So that in every little place where the saints are gathering in the light of the assembly there can be something more elevated and more glorious than anything that can be found in the religious world. And we are all privileged to have part in it, to be spiritual contributors.

W.P. Is that promise, "I will be to you for a Father" an additional promise?

C.A.C. It is a great encouragement to move on the line of separation. Some might feel, if we separate, we shall suffer. But He says, If you take up the place of separation I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters; you will come into a place where I will take

care of you, and that is better than being on friendly terms with the world.

INCORRUPTIBLE AFFECTIONS

1 Corinthians 11:23 - 26; John 14:15 - 18; Ephesians 6:23, 24

The exercise I have had in view of our coming together was that there should be something to promote spiritual affections -- something that would lead to enlarged ability to love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. "Them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption" is a beautiful description of the saints. It comes in the closing verses of the epistle which gives the full height of our calling, and it seems to suggest that everything is open to us if we love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption. One feels encouraged to believe that the Lord is working at the present time to bring that about.

We shall not get incorruptibility as to our bodily condition until we are translated, but I believe the Lord is active in the meantime to bring about incorruption in our affections. We could not say of any natural affection -- even the sweetest -- that it was in incorruption. But there are spiritual affections which have the Lord Jesus Christ as their Object, and which can be said to be "in incorruption". They are of an undecaying and imperishable order. The word "sincerity" in the Authorised Version does not give the force of it; it is "in incorruption". To have such affections would prepare us for the rapture in a blessed way. Those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption are ready at any moment to be caught up to meet Him in the air.

It is blessed to see that what is incorruptible has begun

to have place in the saints now. Peter tells us that we are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God". That is how our spiritual history began. Peter speaks, too, of "the hidden man of the heart" having "the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit". Incorruptibility having place in the hidden man of the heart would shew incorruption in the affections. I would like to suggest how that character of affection is brought about and maintained in the saints. I have no doubt it is by learning a love which is in incorruption, made known to us in our Lord Jesus Christ, and by appropriating that love in our affections. That is why I suggested reading the scripture in 1 Corinthians 11. I believe the Lord instituted the Supper to maintain us in relation to Himself in incorruptible affections. He brings us under the influence of a love that is in itself incorruptible.

The first thing the Lord says in instituting the Supper is, "This is my body, which is for you". That body was prepared of God to be suitable to His "gracious" and "Holy" One; nothing ever had place in that body but the will of God. There was incorruption there, from the outset and all through. The Lord would nourish our affections on the fact that His body has been devoted to us in love. We know that He has wrought atonement for us and accomplished redemption. What He has done for us is most blessed, and we could have no spiritual blessing without it, but what He suggests to us in the Supper is His infinite devotion to us in love, and that becomes the spring of affections which can be said to be "in incorruption".

I doubt whether we think sufficiently of the delight the Lord had in taking up His body -- in being here in the scene of lawlessness for the pleasure of God. He said, "I delight to do thy will". He delighted to be in that body

which God prepared for Him. The Son's affections were in that body, giving impulse to every act of obedience and righteousness. That was true when He was here; He had ever the consciousness of doing the will of One who sent Him. There was no stain upon the perfection that was there -- no decline or decay. All His perfections and His holy affections came out in His body. It was the pure vessel in which everything that was marked by incorruption came out.

The bride in the Song of Songs (chapter 5) describes His body; she speaks of His head, locks, eyes, cheeks, lips, hands, legs and feet. In Psalm 45 the psalmist's heart is welling forth with a good matter; he speaks of the King's sword, His arrows, His throne, His sceptre, His garments and His anointing. All that suggests what He is officially. But His official glory does not appear in chapter 5 of the Song of Songs; what we see there is the description of His personal loveliness as known to His beloved ones. The Spirit of God would call attention to the fact that it came out in His body. We need to entertain that, and think of all the personal loveliness of that blessed One who took up a prepared body for the pleasure of God. "I was daily His delight" was true of every step of His pathway here, and His delight was to be God's delight. Everything in that body had perfect loveliness and moral beauty, and the spring of all was the affections of the Son. Think of that body being devoted in love to the assembly! It is not a question at the Supper of sinners, but of the Lord devoting His body for the assembly. All were clean at that supper table save the apostate, and the Lord said, 'I am going to devote My body for you'. That was love in incorruption. The loved one in the Song had Him in her affections through the night of His absence as "a bundle of myrrh", Song of Songs 1:13. She had to get to the mountain of myrrh

"until the day dawn, and the shadows flee away" (chapter 4:6). Speaking in the language of the New Testament she had to learn Him in the devotion of His suffering love in which He gave His body for her. All moral loveliness came out in His body -- He was "altogether lovely" -- but He has devoted that body in supreme love for the assembly. That is the "mountain of myrrh"; there is fragrance there which moves the affections. Unfading and incorruptible love on His part calls into activity incorruptible affections on the part of the assembly.

In Luke 22 His body is "given", but in 1 Corinthians 11 the word "given" is omitted. "This my body, which is for you". The abiding preciousness of what was once given remains -- I think we might say eternally -- for the assembly. The fragrance of that "mountain of myrrh" is wafted to us afresh every time we hear Him say from heaven, "This do in remembrance of me". The voice of our Beloved surely makes every chord in our hearts vibrate with incorruptible affections! The Supper is the Lord's abiding provision that precious, incorruptible affections should be constantly refreshed, revived and maintained in our hearts, and this not merely individually -- for we cannot eat the Supper alone -- but assembly-wise.

There is a difference between having an affectionate remembrance of the Lord all the week and remembering Him collectively as come together in assembly. Every one who loves Him in incorruption carries a sense of His love all the time. But His precious word, "This do in remembrance of me", is addressed to His own collectively; it contemplates movements of affection which have assembly character. He would be remembered in united affections by His loved ones as together in assembly character. He would be remembered in affections which are properly those of the assembly. I believe the Lord

intends to develop this kind of affection every time we remember Him. If we have only broken bread a few times our affections may not be greatly developed, but those of us who have broken bread many times ought to be greatly developed in these affections. If not, what the Lord has before Him has not been reached, and we are in poor response to Him; we are like the little sister with no breasts (Song of Songs 8:8). Nothing makes up for that; no turret of silver or boards of cedar will make up for lack of breasts. The Lord wants the incorruptible affections of the assembly. The bride says, "My breasts like towers"

(Song of Songs 8:10); those are fully developed affections; they are brought about under the influence of the devoted love of Christ as set before us in the Lord's supper. John at that supper table was in the region of incorruptible affections; he was in the bosom of Jesus, and leaned on His breast. That is where we learn incorruptible affections, and where they are developed in us.

The Lord would also be remembered in the drinking of the cup. What an astonishing thing it would have been to a Jew to be told that the new covenant was a subsisting fact! He would say, 'Nothing is changed; sin and death are still all around'. But the Lord says, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood". The spirit and spring of the new covenant is God revealed in His nature. You might say to a man living in the millennium, 'What wonderful times you are having, what marvellous prosperity! Your harvest and your vintage are perfect; neither your wife nor your children are ever sick; you have a blessed time'. He would answer, 'If that is all you know about it, you do not know much. My blessedness is that I know God'. "They shall all know me". That is the blessedness of the covenant. Not merely that everything is perfect providentially, but all His people know God, and respond to Him in holy affections. It is not only that lawlessness and

idolatry are set aside, and there is no dearth or death-shadow, but God is known in love. We have this blessed knowledge now, and we call the Lord to mind as the One who has been the Testator of it all. It has been brought to us in the blood of Christ so that we may know God.

Could anyone tell how God valued the life of Christ here?

But He gave Him in death that we might know the Spring of all blessing in the heart of God. To drink into that forms incorruptible affections.

In the Supper we hear the Lord's voice -- "the voice of my beloved!" And we get a glimpse of Him; He shews Himself through the lattice. He appeals to the affections of His saints, and the affections of the assembly move actively towards Him. What He presents to us in the Supper speaks of His affections, but He brings them before us to awaken ours. His coming to us is dependent on our affections. The first question is, How have we been affected by the love of Christ and the love of God which has been brought to us, and which is kept fresh in our affections by the continual recurrence every first day of the week of the Lord's supper? As we call Him to mind in affectionate remembrance He gets His place, though absent, as the Object of love "in incorruption".

The love of the assembly is actively awakened by what is recalled of our Lord Jesus Christ. Incorruptible affections are nourished and cherished and enlarged under the influence of His love and God's love. Then our affections have an effect on Him. "Behold, He cometh", Song of Songs 2:8. "If ye love me ... I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you", John 14:15, 18. If we love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption do you think He could keep away from us?

He goes where He is loved. From John 14:15 all turns on "If ye love me". It is not, "I have loved you"; He has said that in John 13, but now He says, "If ye love me".

He says as it were, I will tell you the great gain which accrues to those who love Me in incorruption. First of all you will get the Spirit -- the Comforter -- and then "I am coming to you". How deeply the Lord is affected, and how truly He is attracted, by the love of the assembly!

We can speak very confidently about His love for the assembly, but in John 14:15 it is the assembly's love for Him, and how He answers to it. The development of incorruptible affections in the saints attracts Him. In the Song of Songs He says to His loved one, "How much better is thy love than wine!" She had said, "Thy love is better than wine", but He says, "How much better is thy love than wine!"

There is something collective for the Lord even in this day of great weakness. The Supper has been restored to us, and this really involves the reinstatement of an assembly character of things brought about by revived spiritual affections. If saints really eat the Lord's supper they must take church character. There is something for the heart of Christ; He not only loves the assembly, but the assembly loves Him.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter". The Comforter -- the Holy Spirit -- comes to be the abiding support of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is by His presence and power -- though He is invisible -- that spiritual affections are maintained here "in incorruption". If we give place to the Spirit our affections will never wane. While the Lord was here He carried on an unceasing service of personal love, but now that He has gone to the Father we have the Comforter. There is adequate divine power to maintain things wholly apart from any corrupting influence. This is not a fluctuating influence, but an abiding divine presence.

Another thought seems to me to be closely connected

with the incorruptible affections which have been called into being by the activities of sovereign love, and that is suggested by the character in which the Lord comes to His own. "I will not leave you orphans". There is something of a parental thought in this. He would come as the One whose parental care and affections they had known.

He had nurtured them in family affections; He had spoken to them of the Father; He was Himself the way to the Father; and they had seen the Father in Him; He had told them of the Father's house. He would come to those who love Him to renew those blessed influences that would bring the Father and the Father's love near to them. He comes to us as the One who says, "I ascend to my Father and your Father".

The effect of His coming to His own is to bring in the consciousness of relationship with the Father. This is more than the light of the relationship, or even the Spirit of sonship; it is the enjoyment of the relationship in company with Him who is the firstborn among many brethren. There can be no orphan feeling left in the hearts that have experience of this.

How delightful it must be to the Father to have sons before Him in association with Christ -- to have those whose affections are at home in the relationship which His love has established! Family affections are there, and they are in incorruption, they are eternal in their nature; they will never decay or fade. The love of Christ is known and responded to, the love of God is known and responded to, and the love of the Father is known and responded to. The Father's love is known as resting upon His beloved Son, but it is in the brethren to whom the Father's name has been made known by the Son. These are incorruptible affections.

If the Son comes to us He brings the Father's love because it rests on Him. It is the supreme desire of His

heart that we should know the Father's love. "I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them", John 17:26. What must it have been to the disciples to miss the abiding influence of the Father as He had been made known to them by the Son in Manhood? They are truly orphaned in losing Him, but "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you". He would come bringing the wealth and warmth of the Father's love to them. When He comes to us we find ourselves consciously with Him in the presence of the Father's love; we know that He is there. We may sometimes carry on meetings as if we were in the joy of this when we are not. One would desire to look increasingly for the realisation of it by the Lord coming to us -- the state of our affections being suitable for Him to do so. It is love in incorruption that secures this unspeakable favour.

It is a day of much precious ministry, but let us not be content with light and terms. Nothing will satisfy our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father but developed affections -- those incorruptible affections which are spiritual and eternal. Love in incorruption must be entirely spiritual. One is attracted by the blessedness of knowing that we can have what is incorruptible in our affections before we know incorruptibility in a glorified condition of body.

"In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you". He is in the Father's affections; the saints are in His affections; and He is in theirs. That verse is a precious setting forth of incorruptible affections.

ADDRESSES

THE HOLY DIGNITY AND SPIRITUAL WEALTH OF BELIEVERS

1 Corinthians 1:1 - 8, 26 - 31

Paul wrote this first letter to the Corinthian believers in great exercise of soul. He says, "out of much tribulation and distress of heart I wrote to you, with many tears", 2 Corinthians 2:4. Why was this? It was because they had dropped down into a low carnal state, which was evidenced by many signs of spiritual disorder. God's object in leading the apostle to write this letter was to put a mighty lever under their hearts to lift them up to their true level as saints.

I think it would be pretty generally admitted by all christians that we are not in a very bright spiritual state. I am sure most of the believers in this city would admit that they are not so bright in soul as they might be, or would, perhaps, like to be. We do not know much about being filled with all joy and peace in believing, and abounding in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. This being so, a question of great importance arises. How can we be lifted up from our low state? This epistle, in great measure, supplies the answer.

It is very beautiful to see how the Holy Spirit goes to work to correct a low state. He does not begin to lash them right and left, or to say, 'You ought to do this or that', or 'You should be so and so'. He begins by setting before them their holy dignity and spiritual wealth as believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. He thus lifted them up to the great and blessed thoughts of God concerning

them, and this is the divine way of correcting a carnal and worldly state. It is God's great lever to lift us up, and my desire is that this lever may be put under our hearts so that we may be lifted up into the holy thoughts of God concerning us.

In the first place the apostle brings before us our holy dignity. Believers were then, and are now, "the assembly of God"; they were then, and are now, "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints". Thus we have great and holy dignity. If the thought of this got hold of us we could not possibly come down to the miserable things of the world which so often attract us. When a christian is carnal and worldly he has lost sight of his holy dignity as a saint.

Have we understood that we are of "the assembly of God"? Nothing would make a greater mark on christians than for them to see that they are of God's assembly. It is not that we ought to be God's assembly, but we are His assembly. I should like to show how this comes about, and what it means.

If we turn to Acts 15:7 - 9, 13, 14 we see three things. First, the belief of the gospel; Peter says, "God amongst you chose that the nations by my mouth should hear the word of the glad tidings and believe". Second, the gift of the Spirit; "the heart-knowing God bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit as to us also". Third, those who believed, and received the Spirit, were taken out from the gentiles for God's name (verse 14).

Until a person has believed the gospel and received the Spirit he is not really a christian. There are many pious and God-fearing people who have not really believed the word of the gospel. Cornelius was a very pious man, and I suppose, a believer in Jesus before Peter went to him. He was addressed as knowing the word "which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ", Acts 10:36. But he had not heard the word of the gospel until

he heard it from Peter, when he received the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith. Souls ought not to be in this condition now, but the gospel is often so imperfectly presented that, as a matter of fact, there are many in a similar state -- God-fearing, believing in Jesus as One sent by God, but not knowing the perfect efficacy of His sacrifice, or that He has been raised again for their justification, and consequently not having peace with God or the gift of the Spirit.

The word of the gospel proclaims a risen Saviour, and remission of sins through faith in Him. It presents a blessed Man who was in death and under judgment, but now for ever out of both in resurrection. Peter spoke to Cornelius and his friends of a risen and glorified Saviour, and told them that "every one that believes on him will receive through his name remission of sins". They all believed and immediately received the gift of the Spirit. Christian blessing is all connected with Christ risen and glorified. A risen Saviour was the great subject of the apostles' testimony all through the Acts. If Christ is risen and glorified the whole work of redemption is finished, and every foe laid low. He has come forth triumphant -- raised for our justification.

That is the gospel Paul preached at Corinth. "That Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures", 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. If you believe in that risen One you have the remission of sins; a risen Christ is your righteousness; and on this ground you receive the Spirit. A christian is one who has believed the word of the gospel and has received the Spirit. He knows God in grace and love through the gospel.

Now God has visited us in this way to take us out of the world for Himself. We have not been converted that we may make the world better, or that we may build up

religious causes or systems here, but that we may be taken out of the gentiles for God's name -- to be the church, or assembly of God. There is nothing in the world for God; everything there is ruled by lust and pride, and God is unknown. But he has visited the gentiles to take out of them a people for His Name. We have been converted and have received the Spirit that we might be of God's assembly. This is a very great and holy dignity. There is no great dignity in being a member of a sect or denomination, but there is great dignity in being of God's assembly. It is, indeed, beneath the true dignity of a christian to belong to any human association. Every believer is called to the great dignity of being of God's assembly.

It must be evident that to be of God's assembly necessitates a very high degree of sanctification. We could not be of any assembly of dignity in the world without having qualifications suitable to that assembly. We could not be of the Privy Council or the House of Lords without suitable qualifications. Now the qualification for the assembly of God is sanctification. Nothing else would suit God; He is holy, and He has called us in sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:7). All believers are "sanctified in Christ Jesus". If we think of qualification for a human assembly, a man must have certain rank in order to be of the House of Lords, and there are two ways in which he may get it -- by inheritance or by gift. Now it is quite certain that none of us have inherited sanctification in a natural way. We inherited sin and defilement (see Psalm 51:5). The king, by the exercise of his royal prerogative, can make a man a peer who has not inherited any title. He can confer the honour as a gift. It is on that principle that we obtain sanctification; by God's infinite grace we are "sanctified in Christ Jesus".

Now I should like to make clear what it means to be

sanctified in Christ Jesus. In order to understand it we must remember that Christ Jesus came into the world to bear our sins and to be made sin for us. He came in flesh for this very purpose, and on the cross He took our place in condemnation and death. Everything that was due to us came upon Him, and was endured by Him in infinite love. And in bearing all that was due to us He really made an end of us before God.

Let me try to put it simply. Suppose God takes account of me, what would He have to record in His book? Many sins, a polluted nature, and, to conclude, the sentence of death recorded against me. Would there be nothing else? No good works, no redeeming features, not one item on the credit side of my account? No, not one. God could not take account of anything else in me but these three things. But if Christ Jesus came into the world in love to bear my sins, and to be made sin sacrificially on my behalf, and to die for me -- and He did all this by the grace of God -- what is there left for God to take account of in regard to me? The three things which comprised everything in me of which God could take account are all disposed of and blotted out of His book. If you ask how I stand with God according to His grace, the answer is that God does not take any account of me. All that belonged to me was taken account of and ended at the cross.

Now let me go a little farther. Sins and sin and death were all in the closest contact with the Lord Jesus when He was upon the cross. We adore Him for the love in which He took that place. But the moment He bowed His head in death He had done with sins and sin, and the moment He rose from the dead He had for ever done with death. He is apart from sins and sin and death for ever. I think every believer would assent to this, but it is

a great and blessed thing for the soul to get well hold of it.

Christ is apart from sins and sin and death. He came into these things in divine love to us but now He is apart from them all for ever. Do you question it? No, I am sure you do not. Well, then God would have you to know that you are "sanctified in Christ Jesus". It is not that you are apart from sins or sin or death, but He is, and you are sanctified in Him. God now takes account of Christ Jesus and of all believers as being sanctified in Him. God has made Him to be to us sanctification. A Man who is apart from the whole system of evil which obtains here, and all its consequences, is our sanctification. This is the high degree of sanctification that qualifies us to be of God's assembly.

Those who apprehend this are saints -- holy ones. A saint is not one who earns the title by his extraordinary personal piety. He is a man who sees that God took account of him at Calvary and made an end of him there, as connected with a world of evil, and that he is now justified and sanctified in a blessed Man at the right hand of God. All believers are saints by divine calling. If the King issues a patent of nobility the person named in it would be called to the dignity which it conferred. He might have been a ploughman or a crossing sweeper before, but he is called to dignity by the royal prerogative. We are saints by divine calling and this is a high and holy dignity.

God has visited us and brought us to believe in Christ; we have received Christ and God has made Him to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. We are of God's assembly, sanctified in Christ Jesus, and saints by divine calling. What blessed grace! If we apprehend it, it will put a great distance

between our hearts and the world. We ought to go about with a deep sense of the holy dignity to which God has called us.

Then we have great spiritual wealth in Christ (verses 4, 5). The favour of God is given us in Christ Jesus, and in everything we are enriched in Him. If we are not happy it is because we have lost sight of the favour given us in Christ Jesus. We are so foolish; we turn to the world or look into our own hearts, instead of keeping our eyes on Christ Jesus, the risen and exalted Man in whom God has given us His favour.

To see that God's favour is given to us in Christ Jesus gives us an idea of the scope and nature of the favour. There may be different measures of favour. If I give a beggar a few pence I shew him favour, but it is not very great. But to see that God has given us favour in Christ Jesus is wonderful. The full scope of it hardly comes out in the scripture before us, but the fulness of it is sonship. Read Galatians 3:26 to 4: 7. There we see the full blessedness of the favour given us in Christ Jesus. Sonship is the fulness of the blessing of Christ (Romans 15:29). How much need there is for the apostle's ministry of this infinite favour to come to our hearts in divine power! "The glory which thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one", John 17:22. I understand the glory which the Father has given to the Lord Jesus to be sonship. "I will be to him for father, and he shall be to me for son" (Hebrews 1:5) speaks of the glory which the Father has given Him as Man, and He has given us that glory. In Christ Jesus we are sons, and thus brought into a unity which lies altogether outside what is of man. Soon this unity will be displayed; the saints will come out conformed to the image of God's Son, and the world will know that the Father sent Him, and that He

has loved us as He loves Him. This is the full measure of the favour given us in Christ Jesus. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has "marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will", Ephesians 1:5. We do not get this blessed fulness developed in 1 Corinthians but we do get there that it is in Christ that we are enriched, and other scriptures give us the fulness of it. "In everything ye have been enriched in him". "Everything" is a big word. We have not to go outside of Christ for anything; our every need is supplied in Him. That comes out at the end of the chapter. We are "in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption; that according as it is written, He that boasts, let him boast in the Lord". We have to learn that everything is given to us in another man.

Christ Jesus is made unto us wisdom from God. Philosophers exercise their minds on the state of things in this world, but they cannot find any solution of the problems which sin has introduced. The simplest believer has more wisdom as to these things than the greatest philosophers. An old monk said, 'Would'st thou know the wisdom and wonders of God's everlasting plan? Behold on the cross of dishonour a cursed and a dying Man!' God met the whole question of sin with His own wisdom by sending His Son into this world to die. That wondrous death has become the tomb of all that was contrary to God and the birth-place of every spiritual blessing. The more I think of the death of Christ the more I see the wisdom of God in it. This is a terrible scene of evil; I do not wonder at men going out of their minds if they look at the confusion and darkness without the knowledge of God. But it is most blessed to see the wisdom of God coming into such a scene and in such a

way. So that evil is removed in holy judgment and all that is good and of God is brought in and established in righteousness.

Then Christ Jesus is made unto us "righteousness". If we look at ourselves in God's light we see that we have no righteousness. But Christ has been raised again for our justification. A devoted and greatly honoured servant of God said on his death bed, 'Christ is my righteousness, and that settles everything'. You cannot have a doubt or a misgiving if you see that a risen Christ is your righteousness. You go along with your heart full of peace and joy and praise.

"And holiness"; can you measure the distance between Christ on the Father's throne and any shade of sin's defilement? That blessed One is made unto us holiness. As we pass through this scene of evil where feet and garments are so easily defiled, God cleanses us morally by ministering Christ to us in the power of the Holy Spirit as our sanctification.

Then He is also made unto us "redemption". He is coming again to take us actually out of this flesh and blood condition, and out of all the circumstances in which we come in contact with what is evil here. He is going to end our pilgrim story very soon in the glory of His own presence. Men have gone out of their minds through intense application to the reckoning of days and years in prophetic periods, but the only prophetic period we need to consider is "the twinkling of an eye", 1 Corinthians 15:52. There are other prophetic periods for Israel and the nations but this is the one for us.

Beloved friends, what a present is ours and what a future! Christ has gone to the Father to prepare a place for us; He is holding that place in the Father's love for us. It is our privilege to be 'in spirit there already', but the moment is fast approaching when we shall be in it

actually. The Lord Himself will descend with an assembling shout, and we shall be caught up together with the raised saints to meet Him in the air, to be for ever with Him. These bodies of humiliation will be transformed into conformity to His body of glory; we shall bear the image of the heavenly One. Then will be seen in public display the grand triumph of God in redemption. And God 'gives us now as heavenly light, what soon shall be our part'.

Why are all these blessed things presented to us? It is that the holy dignity and spiritual wealth which are ours as in Christ Jesus may be a mighty lever under our hearts to lift us up from everything that is carnal and worldly and earthly. May God give our souls to know the mighty elevating power of this blessed ministry, and make it effectual in each one of us!

THINGS WRITTEN FOR OUR ADMONITION

1 Corinthians 10:1 - 13

There are some parts of Scripture that are attractive to the hearts of all believers because they present the grace of God or the Person and love of Christ in a special way. It is always a joy to the servants of the Lord to speak on such scriptures. The verses I have read can hardly be said to have this attractive character, but they are nevertheless deeply important.

If that which is of God is to be built up in the souls of His people it is often necessary to pull down things which are contrary to God in order to make way for what is spiritual. The ground has to be cleared. If we do not get on spiritually it is because there is some hindrance at work; a scripture like this calls our attention to the hindrances that we may judge them and get rid of them.

The apostle reverts to the history of the children of Israel to point out the solemn possibility of there being a great contrast between the dispensation of God and the condition of those who are brought into the benefits of that dispensation. Christianity is, on God's part, the most wonderful dispensation of blessing ever brought near to men and it subsists here in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who has acknowledged Jesus as Lord and come into the christian profession has come within the circle of that dispensation. The apostle is pointing out that it is possible to be externally in a great system of blessing, and yet, as to our condition, to be displeasing to God. It is very solemn to think of this.

Five features of God's dispensation are mentioned, and then five characteristics of the condition of the people are alluded to by way of contrast. The condition of the people was entirely out of harmony with the dispensation of God in the outward benefits of which they were found. This drew down judgment upon them: "they were strewed in the desert". We are told that "all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come". This is very solemn and instructive.

Let us first look a little in detail at what I have spoken of -- for want of a better word -- as the dispensation of God. I mean by this the way by which God had made Himself known to the people, and in which He had acted for their blessing. Certain things were true on God's side; He acted on His part in the fulness of grace, and all the people came, in an outward way, into the benefit of His attitude towards His people.

First, "all our fathers were under the cloud". It is very striking that this should be the first statement. Paul does not begin by saying that they were under the blood, but "under the cloud". He begins at the point when Israel first learned that God was for them. God would not only provide a shelter from deserved judgment, but in presence of all the power of the enemy He would cover them with the cloud of His power and love. God was for His people, let them be what they were. In His love and in His pity He redeemed them to make Himself an everlasting and glorious Name. In His everlasting love He overshadowed the people with the cloud of His presence. He knew what they were and what they would prove themselves to be, but He also knew His own thoughts concerning them, and, regarding them according to those thoughts and on the ground of the blood of the Lamb, He overshadowed them with the cloud of His glory.

If we want to know God's thoughts concerning His people we may learn them in the words of Balaam at a later date in Israel's history: "He hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel", Numbers 23:20, 21. It is good thus to see the disposition of God's heart towards His people. He is for them in the most absolute way; they are under the guardian cloud of His power and love.

Second, we read that they "all passed through the sea". They passed through that which was typical of the death of Christ on to entirely new ground before God. It is by redemption that God secures His people for Himself. He takes them up, not according to what the flesh is, but according to the value of the death of Christ, according to the efficacy of that in which the flesh has been judged and ended before God. And if God takes up His people on that ground it becomes a necessity that they should by faith occupy that ground before Him. Hence we read, "By faith they passed through the Red sea as through dry land", Hebrews 11:29. Death is the place where man has no footing, but in the death of Christ God has turned the sea into dry land, so that there is solid ground on which we may walk by faith into an entirely new place with God where Christ risen is known as our righteousness. The gospel of the grace of God makes known the blessed fact that the believer is justified before God and that Christ is his righteousness. This is the simple and blessed truth of christianity. It is the mind of God concerning those who believe. So the apostle could say to the Corinthians, "But ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God", 1 Corinthians 6:11.

Third, "All were baptised unto Moses in the cloud and

in the sea". With an evident allusion to christian baptism the apostle speaks thus. Outwardly, and in the most significant way, the people were committed to the control and leadership of Moses. They were identified with him in the most singular and impressive way. The christian is baptised unto Christ; he is identified with Christ in the mind of God, and in baptism he is identified with the name and lordship of Christ in this world. He may not be true to his baptism; he may fail to realise what is involved in it, but that is the character of it. Every baptised person is on the ground of obedience to Christ as Lord.

Fourth, "All ate the same spiritual food". The reference here is undoubtedly to the manna, and it seems probable that the Lord's supper is in the mind of the Spirit who is seeking to show that there might be outward participation in things which expressed the favour of God to His people without any real answer to His pleasure. The Lord's supper is surely a very great expression of divine favour, but the fact that we partake of it is no guarantee that we really answer to His pleasure.

Fifth, "All drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them: (now the rock was the Christ;)". All participated in the favours which God was dispensing to His people, but the Holy Spirit calls our attention to this to point out that there was no pleasure for God in most of those who did thus participate in His mercy and favour. "Yet God was not pleased with the most of them, for they were strewed in the desert". Intensely solemn words! They are words not to be neglected by us, for we are expressly told that "these things happened as types of us, that we should not be lusters ...".

The manifestations of divine grace in christianity are wonderful. There is no poverty, no lack of blessing. In a coming day God will give effect in power and glory to His

own thoughts about His people, and it is a comfort to think of this in presence of all the failures of today. But the great thing is that the thoughts of God should lay hold of our souls now. If His grace and purpose dwell in our hearts they will necessarily displace what is of the flesh. If what is of God comes into our hearts it must displace the flesh and the world. But the solemn thing is that we may be in the circle where all God's favour and blessing is made known without our being morally affected and formed by it.

God does not call upon us to originate anything; what He looks for is response. There is nothing good in man save that which responds to God, the outcome of His own grace in man. God rolls down a full tide of blessing on His people and He looks for response. If there is no response to God there is no life. It shows that people are identified in their affections with the world and the flesh rather than with the thoughts of God. We are either identified in heart with what is of God, or with what is under God's judgment. The people who identified themselves with the flesh "were strewed in the desert". Many of the Corinthian assembly were not really responding to God, and many among them were falling in the wilderness: "On this account many among you are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep", 1 Corinthians 11:30. Flesh was in activity and it was being dealt with in judgment by the Lord. In this matter it is impossible to maintain neutrality. If we do not respond to God we most surely respond to the flesh and the world.

In sad and painful contrast with all the privileges of the people was their practical condition. The apostle brings forward five characteristics of that condition.

First, "That we should not be lusters after evil things, as they also lusted". I conceive that the reference intended here is to what we find recorded in Numbers 11.

The people had been more than a year in the wilderness: more than a year they had experienced God's gracious ways with them. At the end of this time we find them first complaining and then lusting. I have observed that a complaining spirit is the sure precursor of further evil. A satisfied heart would not be likely to turn towards Egypt. And solemn indeed is the cause of their complaint: "There is nothing at all but the manna before our eyes", Numbers 11:6. Alas, alas! when the perfect grace of Christ, seen in perfection in the steps of His blessed pathway of humiliation here and now ministered by Him from glory to His own in wilderness circumstances here, becomes distasteful to the heart and mind of the believer! It is not exactly discontent with circumstances here, but distaste for what comes from heaves.. It is but a short journey from this point to lusting after evil things, the things of Egypt, the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. It has often been remarked that these things were the food of slaves in Egypt. They typify the things which appeal to the taste and appetite of the flesh.

There are things in the world which are most gratifying to the flesh, and there is always danger of the taste for them being revived. As it has been remarked, the reminiscences of Egypt are a fruitful source of danger. And a very solemn thing in connection with this is that, as a rule, God allows us to have what we lust after. Eve, Lot, Achan, David and many others bear witness to the general truth of this, and it is plainly stated in the words of Psalm 106:15 "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul". God does not restrain His people in an arbitrary way, as a general principle, for we read in Hebrews 11:15, "If they had called to mind that from whence they went out, they had had opportunity to have returned". If we sow to the flesh we shall surely of the flesh reap corruption. "Jehovah smote the people

with a very great plague. And they called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they buried the people who lusted", Numbers 11:33, 34.

Second, "Neither be ye idolaters, as some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play". It was in the absence of Moses that this idolatry took place. It was thus at a moment which is typical of that in which our lot is cast. Christ is on high, and many who profess His name might well say, "We do not know what is become of him", Exodus 32:1. How suggestive it is that Aaron, the religious leader of the people, is the one to cause them to err. It has been thus in the history of christendom. An unseen Person on high, having His interests maintained by an unseen Person here, would have no hold upon the mind of the flesh.

Men have craved something visible, either as an object of worship or as an aid to worship, and their leaders have furnished them with pictures, images, crucifixes, magnificent buildings, music and a sacramental system with a visible priesthood which is well qualified to meet every desire of the religious mind.

Along with all this, licence is given to men to enjoy everything that is in the world. There is no mourning an absent Christ, no confession of the sad state of the world that has rejected Him, no simple and true confession of His blessed name. The theatre, the ballroom, the racecourse and all the ten thousand frivolities of modern society are held to be quite consistent with regular attendance at church! In such cases the actual object of worship is man's lusts and pleasures, and the fact that a certain form of godliness is maintained at the same time in no wise changes the actual character of it in the sight of God. Such persons are idolaters. While we see this so conspicuously in christendom let us not forget that the very essence of this idolatry is self-indulgence in the

absence of Christ. One may travel a long way on that road without going to the extreme lengths of which I have spoken. It is a serious question for everyone who calls on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as to how far we are living a life of self-indulgence and self-gratification. It is possible to be doing so in a very quiet and orderly way, and with a line strictly drawn at certain things which we are pleased to designate as worldly. Yet, withal, it may be true that we get on very comfortably and enjoyably in the world, and as to any practical place that Christ holds in the heart it might be said, "We do not know what is become of him!"

It is no time for self-indulgence, for joining in the merriment of fools. Woe betide the christian who descends to traffic in the unholy mirth of the ungodly, who sits down to eat and drink the world's fiction and its foolish jests! It is no time to be frivolous, for amid the almost universal pleasure seeking, a voice sounds clearly out as of old, "Who is on the Lord's side", Exodus 32:26 (Authorised Version) Moses would recognise no neutrality. He called for pronounced and uncompromising loyalty, loyalty that would be prepared to gird on the sword and to "slay every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbour", Exodus 32:27. This is no holiday amusement, no easy-going path of self-indulgence, but it is a divine picture of the path of discipleship today.

It is interesting to note that it was in connection with this same idolatry that the tent came to be pitched outside the camp. We are told "it came to pass that every one who sought Jehovah went out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp", Exodus 33:7. What follows this is most interesting, for we see, in perfect contrast to the idolatry of the people, Moses admitted to the most intimate nearness to Jehovah. "Jehovah spoke with

Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend", Exodus 33:11. Encouraged by this favour Moses prays, "And now, if indeed I have found grace in thine eyes, make me now to know thy way, that I may know thee", (verse 13), and then later he says, "Let me, I pray thee, see thy glory", (verse 18). It was all over with the people on the ground of responsibility, and therefore it became with the man of faith entirely a question of what God was.

There is something profoundly interesting in all this; it is lovely in its moral beauty and perfection. But we must not dwell longer upon it at present or it will take us too far away from our present theme.

Third, "Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand". It is very solemn to note that this occurred just at the end of the wilderness, "by the Jordan of Jericho", Numbers 26:3. It was Satan's last assault upon the people before they crossed the Jordan. They had had to do with him as the oppressor in Egypt, and as the destroyer (Amalek) in the wilderness, but now they fall into his power as the crafty seducer. It was by the counsel of Balaam (Numbers 31:16) that they were taken in this snare and it is expressly said by Jehovah, "They have harassed you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you", Numbers 25:18.

There are many who can endure a great amount of opposition and pursue this way in spite of many difficulties, who fall before the seducing power of the world. Hence the apostle John in writing to those who were strong and had the word of God abiding in them and had overcome the wicked one, exhorts them to "love not the world". We might apply to the world the solemn warning of the wise king, "Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths: for she hath cast down many wounded, and all slain by her were strong", Proverbs 7:25 - 26.

The world is presented in Scripture as the great rival to God in the affections of His people. To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God. There is a peculiar power in the world to displace God from the hearts of His people. It may often seem very fair and attractive, and it often allures by things which seem innocent enough, but there is a terrible power in it to displace God in the hearts of men. When we see this it helps us to understand the language which is used in connection with that part of Israel's history which is now before us. Jehovah says of Phinehas, "He was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy", Numbers 25:11. If on the one hand it is very blessed that God is jealous as to the affections of His people, on the other hand it is intensely solemn. "Jealousy is cruel as Sheol: The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, Flames of Jah", Song of Songs 8:6.

God cannot tolerate a rival in the affections of His people. If we admit the world into our hearts we admit something that God will have to burn up some day. He will assuredly destroy that which loves the world. I have no doubt the Corinthians had been guilty in large measure of this spiritual fornication. They were entangled in all kinds of unholy and worldly associations and God was practically destroying the flesh by discipline which had extended in many cases as far as death itself. "Many among you are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep", 1 Corinthians 11:30.

In the second epistle the apostle is quite in accord with the mind of the Lord about them: he is the Phinehas of the New Testament. "I am jealous as to you with a jealousy which is of God; for I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his

craft, so your thoughts should be corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ", 2 Corinthians 11:2 - 3.

A very sad indication of declension in Pergamos is pointed out by the Lord when He says, "Thou hast there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a snare before the sons of Israel, to eat of idol sacrifices and commit fornication", Revelation 2:14. May God give us wisdom to discern the snare of worldly associations, and grace to keep clear of them!

Fourth, "Neither let us tempt the Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by serpents". It is of interest to note that there were two Meribahs in the wilderness: we read of one in Exodus 17, and of the other in Numbers 20; that is, one was at the very beginning of the wilderness and the other was at the end. I think the two are connected in the mind of the Spirit in this verse in 1 Corinthians 10. They serve to show that the flesh is the same all through. Forty years experience of the goodness and mercy of God made not the slightest difference in the disposition of the flesh. They tempted the Lord at the beginning and they tempted Him at the end. "Give us water, that we may drink!" was their cry to Moses in Exodus 17:2. "And Moses said to them, Why do ye dispute with me? Why do ye tempt Jehovah?" And in verse 7 we read, "He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they had tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us, or not?" (Massah means 'temptation' and Meribah 'contention').

It is in reference to this that we get the solemn word in Deuteronomy 6:16, "Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted him in Massah". This again is the very scripture used by the Lord to silence the devil in Luke 4. To put God to the test argues great lack of confidence in Him. If we know Christ we do not need to put Him to the

test. To tempt Christ would be the outcome of a selfish and self-seeking spirit upon which Satan could work. It may be that there was something very much akin to this in the way in which the Corinthians were using their divine gifts. It was divine grace used by them to minister self-importance. This was distinctly Satanic in its origin and no doubt it opened the way for Satan's ministers to get among the Corinthians as ministers of righteousness. There was that already amongst the saints which was akin to the character of their ministry. So far as we can learn from Scripture (Luke 4), to tempt God or Christ is peculiarly a form of evil suggested and inspired by Satan and a judgment comes on it which marks its character: they "perished by serpents".

Fifth, "Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer". This feature of the condition of the people, though not the last historically, is the last, one may say, morally. It was when the spies brought their report of the land that the murmuring arose which is here alluded to. They were almost on the threshold of the land, but the spies' evil report so discouraged them that they wished they had died in the land of Egypt or in the wilderness, and they proposed to make a captain and return to Egypt. When Joshua and Caleb would have encouraged them to go up to possess the land they said that they should be stoned with stones. But for the intercession of Moses -- blessed type of Christ in this respect -- the people would have been destroyed; but on the ground of his intercession God pardoned, though, at the same time, pronouncing judgment upon the evil generation which had seen His glory and His miracles and yet did not hearken to His voice: "In this wilderness shall your carcases fall", Numbers 14:29.

God says in 1 Corinthians 10 that some of them murmured. With the exception of Moses and Aaron we read

of two only who did not murmur, Joshua and Caleb. They were the only two who did not perish by the destroyer (see Numbers 26:63 - 65).

It is sad to think how people despise the pleasant land today, and lose sight of God's power to bring them into it. If heavenly things, the things connected with divine love and purpose, are put before them they look upon them merely as beautiful sentiments of no practical value, and as quite inaccessible to all but perhaps a very few. They do not respond to the love and purpose of God and they do not count on His power. They are very much in the same mind as those who were strewn in the desert.

Moses had power as an intercessor because he connected God's glory with His people. He says, as it were, 'They are a miserable set of people, but Thou hast connected Thy glory with them'. This is how faith ever looks at things; and the man who connects God's glory with His people is always a man of spiritual power both with God and for God. God pardoned, but in His holy government all that generation fell in the wilderness. Flesh must fall in the wilderness, either as being judged and practically set aside in the saint or as destroyed under the governmental hand of God.

The things we have been looking at are very serious realities. "Now all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. So that let him that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall". May God give us grace to accept these wholesome admonitions and to be warned by them!

THE ASSEMBLY AS THE PLACE OF TRUE EDIFICATION

1 Corinthians 12:1 - 13

What is before me tonight, beloved friends, is to say a little, as the Lord may help me, about the assembly as the place where our souls are edified. It is a very blessed thing for us to consider that God has provided us with a home in this world. If we have been brought to know the Lord Jesus as the One who was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification, so that we have peace with God through Him, God would have us to know that there is a place for His saints in this world, and that place is the assembly.

If we look round us in the religious world we see all kinds of sects and parties, and they all profess to be right, and they all have some scripture to allege as proof that they are right. But we do not find in Scripture that it was either God's mind that His saints should be isolated individuals or that they should be found in sects of their own choosing. What we find in Scripture is that God has an assembly; Paul addressed the Corinthians as the church or assembly of God, and all through his epistle he takes it for granted that they would come together in assembly because they loved one another. Now, beloved friends, we have to recognise the fact that we are called by God's grace to have a place in God's assembly, not in any sect but in God's assembly.

It is important for us to realise the great dignity of this place. James says in Acts 15:14 that God has "visited to

take out of the nations a people for his name"; that is God's assembly. I should like everyone to see that it is a fact that God has an assembly; He has visited the gentiles to take out of them a people for His name -- not for any other name, but for God's name. The way that Scripture presents the assembly is as the home for all believers and as the place where saints are edified. It is before me to speak a little about the assembly as the place where edification is found -- where we get spiritually built up and enlarged, and where we grow by the knowledge of God. It seems pretty plain that at Corinth they had lost the idea of being God's assembly and therefore they had lost the secret of edification, and that is very much the case at the present time. If believers do not know what it is to belong to God's assembly they will not know much about true edification. If saints go on for ten, twenty or thirty years and never grow spiritually or get spiritually enlarged, it is evident that they have lost the secret of edification.

It is remarkable that eleven chapters of this epistle pass by before the apostle begins to speak on the subject of spiritual manifestations; that is, before he alludes to those activities of the Spirit in the assembly which work for the edification of the saints. Now what are these eleven chapters taken up with? Well, it seems to me that the apostle lays down the lines on which all true edification must come. If we preach and talk one to another without knowing what we are about, instead of there being edification there will be disorder, and the saints will be diminished instead of enlarged. The apostle first lays down the lines upon which all true edification must proceed. Four things come out in the previous eleven chapters; and it is along the lines of these four things that all true edification proceeds. The first is the grace of God, the second is the faithfulness of God, the third is the

presence of the Holy Spirit and the fourth is the love of Christ.

If you turn to chapter 1, verse 4 he says, "I thank my God always about you, in respect of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus; that in everything ye have been enriched in him" and so on. And in verses 30 and 31, of the same chapter, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption; that according as it is written, He that boasts, let him boast in the Lord". If we do not understand the grace of God, we shall not have our faces in the right direction for edification. The apostle gives thanks that the grace of God had been given to the saints in Christ Jesus; in everything they were enriched in Him. Now that gives the soul an entirely new starting point; God has come out to us according to the grace that is set forth in Christ Jesus. God has enriched us with the grace that is found embodied in a risen and glorified Man. That is God's starting point. Very often we think of everything from our side, and we think of the death of Christ as the climax, but the death of Christ was God's way, not God's end. He sent His Son into this world -- "come of woman, come under law" -- that He might accomplish redemption, that He might bear our sins, that He might come under death and judgment for us, so that He might close up our history as in the flesh by the sacrifice of Himself.

Beloved Christian, let me assure you that your history according to the flesh, with all the sins and imperfections that attached to it, was closed up sacrificially when Christ died upon the cross.

But then, as I said, that was God's way, it was not God's end. God did not stop, if I may say so, at Calvary. His beloved Son was taken down from the cross and put

in the grave, and on the morning of the third day He was raised by the glory of the Father, and as a risen, glorified Man He sat down in His Father's throne. He was set down at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, and God's glory in supreme grace shines forth in Him. Now that is the starting point of christianity. God comes out to us in all the grace of that glorified Man. God has opened a new volume of grace and glory by setting His beloved Son at His own right hand, and God's grace is given to us in Him. The knowledge of this gives the believer a good start. Many a person knows his sins are forgiven but his heart is upon the earth still. God wants to lift our souls by the mighty power of His grace up to the level of that blessed glory-crowned Man at His right hand. God has achieved the great thought of His heart and has glorified His grace in the person of His beloved Son, and that is the grace that He gives to His saints. This is a good start. God would start each of us with the sense that our grace and our blessing are in a heavenly Christ "who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption; that according as it is written, He that boasts, let him boast in the Lord", 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31. God has filled us with material for boasting, because we are enriched in a risen and heavenly Christ. Do you know what it is to be enriched in a heavenly Christ? You may say, 'I do not understand that; I know that He died for me and I believe He is risen'. But it is in a glorified One that we are enriched.

Then along with the grace of God you get the preaching of the cross. There are two things the apostle speaks of in the first chapter of this epistle. He speaks of the preaching of Christ and he speaks of the preaching of the cross. It is easy to see that God's grace has come to us in that risen, glorified Man, and it is on the ground of the cross in which is set forth the entire rejection of man after

the flesh. The reason why christians do not enter into the true blessing of grace is because they are not prepared to accept the way of the cross; they are not prepared to accept that man in the flesh must be altogether set aside. The flesh must go from before God in the holy judgment of the cross. If we are conscious that we are enriched in the Man that is at God's right hand we shall be prepared to listen to the word of the cross, which tells how man in the flesh has been set aside in the death of Christ. I am pointing this out to show the line on which souls get edified. I do not think the Corinthians were on that line at all, but the apostle seeks to put them on the true line of the grace of God and the cross. That is the first thing.

Now the second point is the faithfulness of God. Paul says, "God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord", 1 Corinthians 1:9. In chapter 10, verse 13 he says, "No temptation has taken you but such as is according to man's nature; and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able to bear, but will with the temptation make the issue also, so that ye should be able to bear it". There you get an explicit statement of the faithfulness of God. It is very wonderful that the apostle should speak of the faithfulness of God to the Corinthians. They had entirely broken down under the grace of God. In the light and blessing of God's grace they had proved themselves a complete failure. The apostle was going to let the light of God shine in upon them, but before he does so he lays it down as the impregnable rock of blessing that God is faithful. It is an immense thing for us to see this. I suppose we have all felt more or less how we have failed under the grace of God. We have been made to feel how very little we have answered to it, how little we have walked here in the joy and power of grace and in the light

of the cross. We have all had to feel that we have broken down under grace. What is going to be the mainstay, pillar and resource of our hearts if it is not the faithfulness of God? It is only God's faithfulness that keeps us in this day of ruin and departure. In the wilderness the children of Israel broke down under the grace of God and what was the resource? The resource in that day was the faithfulness of God: Joshua and Caleb clung to the faithfulness of God; they said, as it were, 'We may have broken down, but God has not broken down; God has not given up His thought; God has not forsaken His purpose. If the Lord delight in us He will bring us in'.

The faithfulness of God is an impregnable rock in the midst of man's breakdown and the confusion of christendom. We have to turn to God. What marks the true saint is that he clings to the faithfulness of God. He is willing to admit his own failure and breakdown and that everything that has been put into man's hand has come to ruin but he clings to this, that God is faithful.

You remember in 2 Timothy, when the apostle is speaking of all the disorder that has come in, he says, "Yet the firm foundation of God stands". God is faithful to His own thoughts and purposes; He is faithful to what is in His own mind and He is not going to give up the blessing of His saints; He is not going to be thwarted.

But we do not get the comfort of this unless we are walking in holy separation from the world of evil. God has called us to a holy fellowship. "God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord". God is not only faithful to His eternal purposes -- but that is only one side of it -- but He is faithful to His eternal principles. Immediately after it says that "the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those that are his", we read, "Let

every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity". No one has the comfort of God's faithfulness except as he acts on God's principles.

This is a very important point, because we should all like to have the comfort of God's faithfulness. I do not suppose there is any christian but would like this. Well, if we want the comfort of God's faithfulness we shall have to act on God's principles. God has called us to the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and if we are true to that fellowship it involves being found in the fellowship of Christ's death. We get that in chapter 10.

There is a broad line of separation between the christian company and the world. There is nothing more pitiful than to see christians creeping as near to the world as they can get. It has been said that there are many Christians who want as much of the world as they can get with a good conscience. But if our hearts were right it would not be a question of how near we could get to the world, but how far we could get away from it. We have to remember that God called us to be a separate people, and the measure of our separation cannot be anything less than this, that Christ has died here. The cross of Christ has come between the christian and this world.

Now, beloved friends, are we afraid of the cross and death of Christ? Do you know that if God puts the cross, the death of Christ, between us and the world, it is not to deprive us of anything that is good, but it is to preserve us from the contamination of the world? You may depend upon it, beloved young christian, that though the world puts on a pleasant smile for you, and has all kinds of interesting things to put before you, there is great contamination in it, and you cannot touch it without being hindered and damaged. You do not want what is of man if you are in the light and joy of what is of God. God has

treasured up His own purpose in Christ and He is not going to be turned aside, but to have the joy and comfort of this we must come out and be separate. If we do not leave those religious associations that carry the stamp of man upon them, we shall not get the full comfort and joy of knowing the faithfulness of God. It is the man who acts on God's principles who gets the comfort of God's faithfulness.

I pass on to the third thing, the presence of the Spirit of God. Let us read chapter 3, verse 16, "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any one corrupt the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye", and in chapter 6, verses 15 - 17 it says, "Do ye not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then, taking the members of the Christ, make them members of a harlot? Far be the thought. Do ye not know that he that is joined to the harlot is one body? for the two, he says, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit". Now we come to another great fact in christianity. We not only know God in grace and know Him in faithfulness, but we are the temple of God, because the Spirit of God dwells in us. Many a man who has the Spirit has never come to the recognition of that great fact. You will notice how the apostle says three or four times, "Do ye not know?" He did not mean simply, 'Are you aware of the fact?' but 'Have you really recognised the fact?' We all believe that christians have the Spirit; we hold it as part of our creed, but it is a wonderful moment in the history of a soul when he comes to recognise that he has the Spirit. God's Spirit dwells in us and in that way we become the temple of God collectively, and our bodies become the members of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit.

There are two very great things in connection with the

temple of God: the grace of God and God's faithfulness -- the two things we have seen alluded to in chapter 1. If you refer to 1 Kings 8 you will find in King Solomon's prayer that these two things characterise the temple. It was the place where God's name was set up in testimony, so that God's loving-kindness was available for every nation. That is one great thought of the temple of God and the other is the witness of His faithfulness. Now that is what the saints are in this world. They are the living shrine of God's testimony, and from them there goes out into this world the testimony of God's loving-kindness, God's grace to men. That is one side of it, and then on the other side there is found there the witness that God is faithful. God has brought to pass all His thoughts and all His purposes; He has fulfilled the counsel of His love. He has brought His people into the land. He has established them there and has made them His temple, so that they can be in testimony for Himself. Are we prepared to recognise that we are here for God's pleasure and for God's praise?

In chapter 6 he says, "Your bodies are members of Christ". We are joined to the Lord, we are one Spirit with the Lord at God's right hand. What kind of sanctification will suit those who are joined to the Lord? Will a man joined to the Lord get as near to the world as he can? Not a bit of it, he will get as far from it as he can. I ask every young christian here: Would you not like to keep a place for Christ in this world? Christ has been rejected, and when He went away He said to His servants, "Occupy till I come". He said, 'Keep a place for me till I come back'. Now Christ is away from this world and He has left us here to keep a place for Him, and where is it? It is in these bodies. It says, "Your bodies are members of Christ". The only place that Christ has in this world is in the bodies of His saints. The only witness for Christ in

this world comes out through the bodies of the saints. "Your bodies are members of Christ". What a privilege to be entrusted to keep something for Christ here in this world! To keep ourselves pure, separate, detached from this world, to hold ourselves so apart from the flesh that Christ can be expressed in these mortal bodies.

I have often thought about those mighty men of David spoken of in 1 Chronicles 11:13, 14. When the Philistines came there was a little piece of a field with some barley in it, and it is recorded that those men stood up against the Philistines and delivered it. And God said it was a great deliverance -- a little piece of a barley field! It was a bit of God's land and they held it for God, and it was a great deliverance. You have got your little bit of a field -- that body that is a member of Christ. It is not your own: you have been bought with a price and you have to hold that bit for Christ. We have to hold ourselves for Christ and for God in this world.

Now there is another thing I want to speak of, and that comes out in chapter 11, verses 23, 24. "For I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was delivered up, took bread, and having given thanks broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me". I read that scripture because it seems to me that the great thing that comes out in connection with the Lord's supper is divine love. And I do not know anything that has power to subdue what is of the flesh like divine love. The Corinthians were going on with the outward act of eating the Lord's supper, but it is very clear that it had ceased to be to them the voice of divine love, so they were not subdued, they were not lowly in heart. They were eating the Supper in a merely external way, without being really in the presence of divine love.

I suppose all christians have an instinctive feeling that

there is something peculiarly blessed and holy about the Lord's supper. There are three things expressed in the very fact that we come together to eat the Supper, and the first is that the Lord loves His saints. The bread and the cup speak of that in which His love has found its most profound and blessed expression; He loves His saints. And the second thing is that His saints love Him. The Lord's supper is the most simple thing conceivable; if you look at it from a natural point of view it is a company of people come together to break bread and to drink of the cup; but what makes it so great and blessed is that there is a company here of those who love the One who died. It is by His death that He has put the seal of His love for ever on our hearts. And the third thing is that they love one another. These are the three great things that centre in the Lord's supper. The Lord loves His saints, and His saints love Him, and they love one another. It is a circle of love.

We do not learn divine love by reading about it, or hearing about it, or even by praying about it. We learn divine love in the circle where it is at home, and when the Lord brings His own together to eat His supper, He binds their hearts to Himself and to one another in the immediate presence of His living love. It is there we learn divine love. And the effect is we are subdued, humbled, and profound self-judgment is brought about. When I think of myself according to the flesh, what am I? I am Judas, I am the man that is not a bit affected by the love of Christ. There was a man who did not care a bit about the love of Christ, and the flesh in you and me does not care any more about the love of Christ than Judas did. He was insensible to the love of Christ. But if we have been born of God and have been brought into the circle of grace and been taught of God, we become very sensitive to the blessed love of Christ, and He brings us to the

Supper in order to bring us under the influence of that love. The effect is that we are formed in the blessed character that is spoken of in chapter 13 of this epistle.

Now the apostle can speak about spiritual manifestations, and in chapters 12 and 14 he speaks about the action of the Spirit in the assembly by which souls would be edified. What I wanted to suggest was that the line on which edification proceeds is laid down in the previous part of the epistle. We have to be built up in the knowledge of God's grace and God's faithfulness. We have to be brought to recognise the moral consequences of the Spirit of God being here. We have to be built up in the consciousness of divine love, the love that has been expressed in the death of Christ and is continually brought afresh to our hearts in the Lord's supper. This is the line of edification, and the result would be that we are all bound together and consider one another in love, just as in the natural body every member serves all the other members in unselfish love. There is not a single member of your body that has the least bit of selfishness about it.

If danger threatened your head, every other member of the body would come to the rescue without considering its own safety at all. There is perfect unselfish love in the members of the natural body, and in the same way with the body of Christ. The saints are bound together in the knowledge of the grace of God and His faithfulness, and in all that subsists here in the power of the Spirit and in the knowledge of divine love. If God's people were bound together in the knowledge of these things they would be delivered from the miserable selfishness that belongs to the flesh. Paul could tell the Corinthians that they were the body of Christ. Well then, if that is the case let it be manifested. The result would be that the whole body bound together would be nourished, ministered to, and would edify itself in love.

God has furnished us with a circle where we can find edification. I would like the youngest believer here to remember that God has called us to have a place in His assembly, and in God's assembly the things that are prominent are all of God. Everything that is prominent in God's assembly must be of God -- His grace, His faithfulness, His love. We may get into this circle as very little babes, knowing very little about either God's grace, or His faithfulness, or His love. But we come there to grow and every influence that we find in God's assembly helps us to understand better His grace, His faithfulness and His love. God's assembly has not been taken away from this earth and every influence in that assembly tends to help and edify. There are distinctions of gifts, of services and of operations (1 Corinthians 12:4 - 6), but everything that is in God's assembly tends to make His grace and His faithfulness and His love greater realities to our hearts. Thus we are built up in the knowledge of God, we serve one another in unselfish love, and in that way the body edifies itself.

I trust each one may consider this subject more fully, that we may all find more the reality of the assembly as the place of true edification.

AN OUTLINE OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

READINGS

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 15 - 24

C.A.C. The way the apostle connects the character of his own service with the stability of God's ways in Christ is very beautiful.

T.H. He was jealous lest the effect of his altering his plans should disparage his ministry.

C.A.C. There is the very practical suggestion in all this that the ways of a servant must be in keeping with his ministry, even in such a matter as his going to a place or not going. It was all to be ordered on the same principles as the greatest ways of God in Christ.

T.H. There is a tendency in us to use lightness; we might make a promise and when the time comes not be able to fulfil it.

C.A.C. Of course you might fully purpose to do a thing, and in the ordering of God you might not be able to.

A. Paul was often hindered.

C.A.C. Yes; he says elsewhere, "Satan hindered". He tells them (verse 23), "To spare you I have not yet come to Corinth". If he had come amongst them in the state of disorder they were in, he would have been very severe and he did not wish that. He did not change his mind in a capricious way; he had a reason.

T.H. "Lest my God should humble me as to you when I come again", 2 Corinthians 12:21.

C.A.C. Yes. Paul had great exercise and sorrow of

heart about their state; they were his children. He had an object in not going to them; he did not do things in a careless way.

A. Would you say that ministry either produces exercise or hardens?

C.A.C. It always produces exercise where there is a work of God. But sometimes you feel there is nothing to work on, so that nothing you say or do has any effect.

When there is a work of God, divine ministry always produces exercise.

T.H. We could always find a cause for self-judgment.

C.A.C. Sometimes we find nothing else! Paul had confidence in the Corinthians, but at the same time great exercise. He was on a positive line, not yea and nay. His was a positive ministry of Christ, and his ways were as positive as his ministry.

A. False teachers tried to trip up the apostle.

C.A.C. His ways were a great contrast to theirs. They tried in every possible way to disparage and reduce him.

He had purposed to go to Corinth and had not gone, and people might have said that he was walking in the flesh and that there was nothing divinely stable in him. So he had to tell them it was not so. There was the same stability about the servant as about his ministry. It is a great principle that the servant's ways are to partake of the same character as his ministry.

How wonderful it is to have to do with One in whom everything is yea! It is a contrast to the other man in whom everything was nay. Man in the flesh is all nay, and sometimes there is a mixture of the two in us: sometimes there is a bit of Christ and a bit of man in the flesh; that is mixing up yea and nay. The character of the work of God in the saints is that they become marked in all their ways by the stability that is in Christ; there is nothing doubtful about them. We have just sung a line of

a hymn, 'Doubtful no promises remain'. God's promises never were doubtful! Why not say, 'Faithful God's promises remain'? They were always faithful and they have been verified in the fullest way in Christ. He is the Yea of them. Christ is the first and the last. He was the starting point in the heart and mind of God from whom all promises flowed; He is the root and offspring of David; everything springs from Him. The promises were unfolded through many centuries, but in the mind of God Christ was the source of every one of them. Saints of old lived on promises, but now we see them all established or substantiated in Christ. And we have not only promises, but the revelation of the promises and God fully revealed in Christ.

T.H. Was the word to the serpent a kind of promise?

C.A.C. Clearly so; and Adam and Eve could lay hold of it.

N. Then we go on to Abraham. Christ is presented as Son of Abraham and Son of David.

C.A.C. Yes, the key to the whole gospel in Matthew is that He is Son of David and Son of Abraham. He is seen as the true Solomon and the true Isaac in Matthew. The first twelve chapters show Him as the true Solomon, finishing with His rejection; and then what He is as the true Isaac is taken up in resurrection.

T.H. Could you explain that?

C.A.C. The son of David is Solomon, and the son of Abraham is Isaac: Jesus is both in the gospel of Matthew. The promises to Abraham stand in contrast to all the confusion man has brought into the world as seen in Babel. Babel represents what the world has become in the hands of men, a scene of confusion. We see Babel now; men's tongues are confounded morally, not only grammatically; they cannot agree, cannot fit in with one another. God is going to adjust it all, and that by Christ.

In David we see the weakness of man, his inability to hold anything for God. David had come to that in his last words (2 Samuel 23); he says, "The ruler among men shall be just, Ruling in the fear of God; And he shall be as the light of the morning, like the rising of the sun, A morning without clouds; ... Although my house be not so before God" -- that is, everything connected with himself was no good -- "Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in every way and sure; For this is all my salvation, and every desire". David looks away from all the weakness attaching to himself; he was dying, it was the extremity of weakness: everything was slipping through his fingers, but slipping into Christ's. It demonstrated the absolute weakness of man, but there is One, the true Son of David who can take it up with a strong hand and hold it for God. All through the millennium, as we read in Psalm 72 "men shall bless themselves in him", "His name shall endure for ever". It gives one such a sense of comfort and stability that we have come to a Person in whom everything is secure. What a wonderful thing it is to be firmly attached to that Person!

N. How do you understand, "for glory to God by us"? (verse 20).

C.A.C. God has been pleased to get the glory and praise of His ways through the saints; if He does not get it through us He will not get it at all. It is most important from God's side that we should have our hearts firmly attached to Christ, otherwise He will not get the praise and glory due to Him.

N. Why is He not only the Yea but the Amen?

C.A.C. He is the confirmation of all God's promises; they are affirmed and confirmed; there is nothing more to be added. We have the Alpha and the Omega; that includes every letter in the alphabet. All is out; God has nothing more to tell us about Christ or about Himself.

"Yea is in Him" . You will never through all eternity get a bit more light than has come out in Christ; and you will never find in heaven anything about God that has not shone out in Jesus. What a Person to study, is He not? "Yea is in Him". That is, the verification of all divine truth is in the Person of Christ. It is an immense thing to see that everything there is on the revelation side and so the blessing side is in Him. If I want to know the character of my blessing as one called of God I have to look to Christ to see it. Christ is preached and all that is in Him is presented in grace to all men: every person in the world is welcome to take hold of it and possess it. We preach a Person, not only One who died (we could have nothing without that) but a living glory-crowned Man at the right hand of God in eternal and blessed acceptance. All that is there in Him is for every man. The thoughts of God in regard to every one of us are set forth in Christ; they are so great we do not take them in. I could say to any man 'God has shown you the most wonderful favour, He has provided you with a Lord and Head, and everything set forth in Him is for you'.

T.H. God falls back on sovereignty; not one of us, if left to ourselves, would accept the gospel.

C.A.C. That is the only hope for us. If God had not wrought by His Spirit in us we should never have believed the good news. Here it is all looked at as the work of God: He has firmly attached us to Christ, has anointed us, has sealed us and has given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. It is all God's doing, and it is for the glory of God by us.

N. What is the character of the anointing?

C.A.C. God has brought us under the same anointing that Christ is under in heaven, so that we are firmly attached to a glorified Man in heaven by the same anointing. He has companions, and He is anointed with the oil

of gladness above His companions: how remarkable that we share it! Unity is the effect of the anointing. If it is so fragrant to God, we should value it more. We are exhorted to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. If saints were really attached to Christ in the power of this anointing there would be unity in a blessed way; it is because there is not this firm attachment that we do not see unity. Attachment to Christ means detachment from self, and it is self in some form or other that spoils the endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit.

N. Have you any thought as to the order in which these things -- the anointing, the sealing and the earnest -- are stated?

C.A.C. The anointing would seem to stand here in relation to our being established in Christ or firmly attached to Him. Then the sealing would carry God's mark just as the blessed Lord did in everything He said and did, as we read, "him has the Father sealed, even God", John 6:27. I think every word and act of the blessed Lord carried the Father's mark; all was done in the Spirit. So the saints in this way carry the mark of God by being linked up with a glorified Man in heaven. Finally by having the earnest of the Spirit we participate even now in the joy of all that is still behind the scenes. Everything is yet below the horizon, but saints, as having the earnest of the Spirit, are in presence of things to come. The Spirit not only shows these things to us as pictures, but brings us samples; we taste the grapes of Eshcol. It would all come in with firm attachment to Christ.

CHAPTER 1 VERSES 21, 22

C.A.C. It is evident that the gift of the Spirit is so great and viewed in Scripture in so many ways that the difficulty is to compass it at all. It must be so when a divine Person comes in and is pleased to take a place on man's side, indeed to dwell in men. The very fact that it is so shows what an entirely new footing everything stands on for God: we must begin with that, that everything stands for God on the footing of Christ, of His death, His resurrection and ascension. I think if we see that everything is on that new footing for God we shall begin to understand the possibility of the Spirit being given. I do not know if anyone could understand the possibility of it apart from those great realities.

Ques. Do you connect what you are saying with verse 20?

C.A.C. Yes, I think things are summed up there. All the promises of God are yea and amen in Jesus Christ, in the Son of God. In Him is the yea; He is the affirmation and substantiating of everything that is in the thought of God for man. It is of the greatest importance to see that God would have His people intelligently in the Spirit. There is no thought in Scripture or suggestion of people having the Spirit and not knowing it. To have the Spirit intelligently involves the understanding of the footing on which everything stands for God, and it supposes the activity of faith.

Rem. Everything is viewed here from the standpoint of what we are in Christ Jesus.

C.A.C. Yes, I think the saints are in Christ Jesus by the work of God. That is, a most wonderful operation of divine power has taken place in everyone who has been transferred in faith and affection from Adam to Christ; it

is the work of God. There is a tremendous action of divine power, resulting in a company of persons in this world being transferred in faith and affection from Adam to Christ.

All the promises subsist in the Son of God; there is no yea and nay, no uncertainty, nothing in a provisional way; it is all yea in Him. If you think of man after the flesh, the first man, he was always nay; he was the negation of everything in the will of God. If you look at him in innocence, he was corruptible; if you see him fallen, every kind of evil has place with him; if you see him under government, under the promises, under the law, in the presence of the divine testimony of the prophets, in the presence of Christ, and in the presence of the Holy Spirit, he is a negation. Now you turn to another Man -- all this is presented in the gospel, it is not advanced truth -- God has established everything for His own pleasure in Christ. If you have faith in that Man who is risen, ascended and glorified in heaven, you receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit. If people have not faith in Christ risen and glorified how can they receive the Spirit? He is preached in order that men may be transferred in faith and affection from Adam to Christ; then God gives the Spirit. The Spirit is given in relation to all that God has brought in and established for Himself in a risen and glorified Man; there is no other footing on which the Spirit could be given. Therefore the faith that secures the Spirit is faith in a risen and glorified Man.

God never withholds the Spirit a minute longer than is necessary. God is the giving God; that is exactly the character in which He is set before us by His blessed Son. God is the Giver, and what does He give? He gives the Spirit. In John 4 it is not that He gives His Son, but that He gives the Spirit: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and

who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink". Who was it? The Son of God. What does He give? He gives the Spirit. "Thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water". That is the immense thought which was welling up in the heart of God in regard of man -- He gives him His Spirit.

Ques. What is your thought as to the anointing in connection with the gift of the Spirit?

C.A.C. If we have faith in that glorified Man in heaven, and affection for Him, all is maintained in the power of the anointing now. God makes a choice of a man to be a priest, and He makes choice of another man to be a king; and when God has called a man to any position He has him anointed so that he may hold the position that God has given him in divine capability. That is the idea of the anointing as I understand it. We do not simply hold faith in Christ Jesus and affection for Him in a way that is apart from the Spirit, but we hold it in the power of the anointing.

Ques. Is John 4 an initial or final thought?

C.A.C. If you speak experimentally, I doubt whether we begin with John 4. I think the starting point on our side is that the Spirit is given to shed the love of God abroad in our hearts.

No scripture defines how we receive the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is presented in different ways; no two Scriptures present it in exactly the same way. The Spirit is introduced in the simplest way in Romans 5 after speaking of believing on God as having raised up the Lord Jesus. I have been condemned sometimes for saying that faith in Christ risen is essential to the gift of the Spirit, but I believe it is a divine truth. You must have faith in God who has raised Jesus, that One who was delivered for your offences and raised for your justification. "Therefore having been justified on the principle of

faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God". Then the love of God is brought in: "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" -- we find the Spirit is there. It is not supposed that a soul should have faith in God as having raised up the Lord Jesus and not have the Spirit. There is the wonderful display that God has made of Himself in declaring His righteousness and power and love, and all is gathered up now in a risen Man; all that was displayed in the cross and resurrection subsists before God in a risen Man. There is the profound sense in the heart of the love of God poured out there; it is an unmistakable experience. We learn the love of God in the death of Christ, and a risen Christ is our righteousness.

There was no Spirit here indwelling, except in Christ, until Christ had been ten days at the right hand of God. When the Lord was here He did for His disciples a great deal that was subsequently the work of the Spirit, because there was a divine Person here in flesh. The presence of that divine Person effectuated great things for the disciples.

Acts 19 shows that in the divine mind the presence of the Spirit is a conscious reality, not merely something read about in Scripture. Paul could say, "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?" We must pass to Romans 8 for a wonderful unfolding of the presence of the Spirit: you find that the christian is being set up there with the Spirit as power; it answers to the anointing, it is the Spirit of the anointed One. When we come to our side things are very feeble, but it is a great thing to understand what is there for us. I think that the presence of the Spirit for many saints is a thing they have hardly thought about and they are somewhat in the position of a man

who owns a very impoverished estate which yields him small joy and revenue till one day he makes the discovery that there is a wealthy gold mine on his estate and all he has to do is to work it out. The presence of the Spirit is like that. We have a most wonderful resource of divine wealth and sufficiency in having the Spirit; now the thing is to give attention to the gold mine on our property and work it out and live on the wealth of it. It is like the woman in Elisha's time who paid her debts with the oil and lived on the rest. So great a thing could not be brought about but by the Son of God coming here: He is introduced at the beginning of the gospels as the One who would immerse us in the Holy Spirit.

The assembly is the anointed vessel; the expression is used in 1 Corinthians 12:12, "so also is the Christ". The assembly is now the anointed vessel of divine pleasure in this world. Some of us have been seeing lately how important it is that the presence of the Spirit should come into manifestation: that is the point in 1 Corinthians 12, which is concerned with spiritual manifestations. There are great diversities in distributions but all make manifest that the Spirit is here. The great exercise for us is that the presence of the Spirit should come into manifestation.

Ques. Have we to dig for it?

C.A.C. Yes, the nobles dug the well. That is the great importance of prayer; the Lord connects the gift of the Spirit with prayer. The Lord Himself was praying when He was anointed and sealed; the anointing and the sealing came upon a praying Man. No one can be anointed or sealed apart from prayer. Do you think God could anoint an independent or lawless man? It is impossible -- "Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured", Exodus 30:32. The Lord puts the woman in John 4 on that line -- "thou wouldest have asked". So in another scripture He speaks of the Father who is in heaven giving the Holy Spirit to

those that ask Him. In that connection it is striking that it was after ten days of prayer that the Spirit came at Pentecost. A people who knew the company of a risen Man for forty days were content to stay in an upper room in prayer, and to abide in that upper room; they were not only meeting there but they stayed there, withdrawn from the world. You can see in Acts 1 the suitability of the company to be anointed. Also when Cornelius received the Spirit, it was very quickly; Peter had only started to speak, as he says, "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them". It seemed a very easy thing but the angel said to Cornelius, "Thy prayers ... have gone up". How long had he prayed? We do not know, but it was a praying man who received the Spirit.

There is no single defined way in which people receive the Spirit; it is presented from many different aspects in Scripture. It is spoken of in connection with prayer; with obedience -- "the Holy Spirit ... which God has given to those that obey him"; in connection with love -- "If ye love me ... I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter"; in connection with heart purity -- Cornelius is an instance of a gentile receiving the Spirit in connection with heart purity: "The heart-knowing God bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit as to us also", Acts 15:8. No one receives the Spirit without purity of heart: the heart-knowing God is the only One who knows when people have turned from themselves to Christ. The Spirit is the witness to Christ and to the value of the death of Christ and also to the state of people's hearts. It is God who purges the heart; you do not do it yourself: "having purified their hearts by faith". God, in introducing faith, brought here all the elements of divine purity: we have a risen and glorified Man as the object of faith and love. It is surely a purified heart which has that object for its trust and love; no heart is purified apart

from that. It is a great thing for us to get an impression of subsisting realities; then we are boards of acacia wood fit for covering with gold. There is no idea in Scripture of the Spirit being given to people in an unsuitable condition.

Rem. It was a very interesting company in Cornelius' house.

C.A.C. Yes, they were all praying men. It is delightful to see the sort of men that Cornelius had about him. One is said to have been a pious soldier. What a lovely set of people they were, suitable for the Spirit! There must be something for God to put His Spirit on; He does not put It on flesh. "Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured".

I think prayer is a wonderful thing: there is nothing that gives God more pleasure than prayer. It is so foreign to the first man, because prayer involves the subjection of the will to God. You cannot pray as long as the will is active; you may try, but the heavens are brass over the head of a person in whom the will is active. I think Cornelius' friends were like-minded with himself -- they were all "before God".

On the divine side there are no time limits to receiving the Spirit. God can effect in one minute what in other cases takes forty years. The boards of the tabernacle were made of acacia wood; it is called incorruptible wood, a kind of material suitable to be overlaid with gold. When God can look into a heart and see it centring on His blessed Son, there is material there on which God can put the gold; and He puts it on in order that what He is may come into expression in His saints.

Ques. Is this all the anointing?

C.A.C. Yes, but it partly runs into the sealing. It is obvious that a sealed person carries God's mark; that is the primary idea of sealing. When we come to our side of it we have to remember how partial and fragmentary

things are: we have to be continually enlarged and expanded to get an intelligent apprehension of it; we do not get it in a moment. It is the work of a lifetime to open out the different ways in which the Spirit acts; it is an infinite subject. It is not a thing to be dismissed by saying, 'I have received the Spirit', as though that were the end of it. We have not touched a tithe of the wealth for us in the Spirit.

Ques. What about the indwelling?

C.A.C. That is a wonderful idea because both the sealing and the anointing are more external; the very expression implies something external, but in the indwelling we have something within. The indwelling supposes that there are suitable conditions for the Spirit of God to take up His abode there, not as a visitant. In the Old Testament we see the Spirit as a divine Visitant, and it could not be otherwise because there were no conditions suitable for the indwelling of the Spirit. He could come upon this one and that one by certain acts of power, but there was no indwelling.

Ques. Might we have the sealing and the anointing and not the indwelling?

C.A.C. No. We have to learn these things as they are presented to us. If one has the Spirit, one has potentially everything connected with the Spirit, though one may not know anything about it practically and experimentally; therefore we need a reading like this to touch our hearts and produce a sense in them that we are not in the good of the Spirit and so we go to pray.

I think the earnest in the heart involves the indwelling; it is something within. The earnest is a wonderful thing because it makes the inheritance a reality at the present moment. The earnest of the inheritance is until the redemption of the acquired possession. The whole inheritance has not yet been redeemed but the earnest is

substance out of it. If a saint has the earnest of the Spirit he not only has light as to the inheritance but he has the substance of it in his heart. It is one thing to have light and another to have the substance. If you acquire possession you are sitting down in the eternal tabernacles.

The Lord presents in Luke 16 the thought of being received into eternal tabernacles, contrasting it with all the responsible course in which the unjust steward was tested. It is a beautiful thought connected with the feast of tabernacles. It is like Ephesians 2; there you sit down in the eternal tabernacles. What a wonderful thing it is to be restful there! If we think of an Old Testament figure we think of branches of beautiful trees, palm branches and willows of the brook. Think of the luxuriance and shade and shelter of them! You sit down there in eternal tabernacles, and know of nothing that is going to intrude, As you sit there you trace the wonderful way the blessed God has brought you from Egypt to the scene of glory, to the brightness and blessedness and delight of His heart.

It is wonderful to be there and to think that the ways of God have brought you there. We have the earnest in the Spirit, we have the substance of the inheritance. We have no more substance than we have in the Spirit. We all know much; we have read the Bible and many books, but we have no more substance in our souls than what is put there by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Spirit of grace and supplication, and the Spirit of God in a man is characterised by that. I suspect that if we gave ourselves more to prayer we should be astonished at the extraordinary activities of the Spirit that would follow.

Then there is another thing which we must not leave out. It is one thing to acquire the substance of the inheritance, but there is another very marvellous thought of the Spirit and that is that He is here to glorify Christ. What kind of desire has God put in our hearts? Apart from

the thought of our personal blessing there is something deeper and more soul-stirring and precious, that we should be here as vessels of the Spirit for the glorifying of Christ, that the eternal Lover of our souls should be honoured and glorified in this world. The Spirit is here to maintain the testimony of the Christ. We have to furnish oil for the light; the supply of oil depends on us.

Ques. Would glorifying Christ be giving an expression of what Christ is?

C.A.C. Yes, and there should be the witness here, the collective witness to Christ, because the glory of Christ is being maintained in the witness and God would in these last moments give a peculiar power to the witness. In Leviticus 24 we have the candlestick in connection with the day of apostasy. In Exodus 25 God has told us about it in the day in which things were inaugurated; but in Leviticus 24 the candlestick is seen in the day of apostasy when the man blasphemed the Name. In that day it was to be the jealous care of the priests to see that the lamp burned undimmed. As place is given to the Spirit one would be enabled to be here in power, established in Christ, anointed and sealed, and having the earnest; that would qualify us for assembly conditions and the collective witness to the glory of Christ, so that every one becomes concerned that nothing should interfere with the shining forth of the testimony of the Christ. At Corinth the testimony was there, the candlestick was there and its vessels but the light burned very dim, and the object of the epistle was that the light should burn in all its brilliancy. That is the great exercise for us; it takes us from our personal side of things to think of the wonderful witness of the Spirit to Christ. How we should long for it in the ministry, in the preaching of the gospel and in all the gatherings of the saints that there should be a distinct manifestation of the Spirit's power glorifying Christ in

this world. We are supplied through prayer; there is an immense source of supply, an inexhaustible reservoir in heaven; and the golden pipes are there, furnished with oil. What a result there should be in ministry! Look at Paul in prison! Look at the epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians! What a rich ministry of Christ!

We learn what God is doing, "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit", Zechariah 4:6. As we give place to the Spirit we find the Headstone brought in with shoutings; Christ as Head gets His place as we give place to the Spirit. He glorifies Christ and Christ comes in as Head and everyone says, "Grace, grace unto it!".

Ques. Is all that the result of the indwelling?

C.A.C. Yes, it is connected with it; it is the working out in result of these different aspects of the Spirit; they all have to be blended in the soul, and blended in the saints, because the distribution of the Spirit is spread over the whole body. We are not individually adequate for it, and even the saints we walk with are not; it is spread over the whole body.

Rem. The baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost involves all this.

C.A.C. Yes, it involved the whole thing right through; it is a universal idea, because all, whether Jews or Greeks, have been baptised into one body and have all been given to drink of one Spirit. That is the external and the internal. The body as looked at in Corinthians is the external exhibition of the presence of the Spirit; it is looked at as a vessel in which the presence of the Spirit becomes manifest. As each individual carries out his distribution the unity of all comes into evidence; therefore it is quite impossible that what is of the Spirit in me should clash with what is of the Spirit in you. The Spirit is dwelling in thousands of saints all contributing in various

ways, but in perfect unity and harmony. By the Spirit we are all baptised into one body; it is the practical presentation of it. Then we drink of one Spirit; that is internal.

We enjoy in our own souls first what we manifest in the body.

Ques. Should we drink continually?

C.A.C. I think in principle we have all been given to drink of one Spirit. There is no doubt that the allusion there is to the bread and cup. The body is connected with the bread, and the cup is connected with drinking into divine love. We are all made to drink of one Spirit; you have not one source of joy and I another. How far have we drunk into the one Spirit? So far as we have, we have come into joy. The thought there is not simply knowing the presence and active power of the Spirit in a unity that appears outwardly, but that every one has the inward joy of it in his own soul.

CHAPTER 2 VERSES 1 - 17

C.A.C. This is one of the most interesting and attractive chapters in this epistle; not because we get any unfolding of doctrine in it, but because we see so blessedly the working of divine affections in the heart of the apostle. We may learn Christ by observing the spirit and ways of His servant.

F. You see tenderness and consideration on his part for others.

C.A.C. Yes, the warmth, the tenderness and the delicacy of divine affection in the heart of a man is very beautiful: it is a precious unfolding of the sensibilities of Christ. Paul was animated by the Spirit of Christ. There had been many grievous disorders at Corinth, and the

apostle was not willing to go back till all these had been removed. He did not stay away in a judicial spirit -- as if he said, 'You are so bad that I cannot come' -- but he stayed away in the spirit of love: he would not go till every occasion of grief had been removed. In a sense he had been obliged to grieve the Corinthians by what he wrote in the first epistle, but he was anxious that all that should be got rid of before he came, so that there should be nothing to hinder the common joy of himself and the saints at Corinth; he wanted to come in unhindered joy. He could tell them now what a sorrow it was to him to write the first letter; he did not tell them that when he wrote it. "Many tears" (verse 4), what an exhibition of the sensibilities of Christ! His heart was broken about their state. The proper christian state is that we are all ministers of joy to one another. Paul looked to have joy in the saints (verse 3); he would not come to have grief from them. What marks this chapter is the working of the Spirit of Christ to draw saints together when they had been divergent: the Corinthians and Paul had not been of one mind. There was great divergence in the first epistle but now we see them in accord, there are no jarring notes.

M. Luke starts with joy and ends with it. What is joy the outcome of?

C.A.C. It is the outcome of abiding in divine love. The Lord could speak of "My joy" -- He kept the Father's commandments and abode in His love. He did the Father's will in everything; there was nothing in the blessed Lord to hinder the fulness of His joy in the Father's love. If the flesh is not allowed and divine love is working, there is nothing to hinder joy. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit -- love, joy, peace -- that is the order.

The apostle had to write very severe things to the saints at Corinth, but he had not written that they might be grieved but that they might know the love he had very

abundantly towards them. It was the action of love on his part, and we may say on theirs too, because it was the divine nature in them that responded to the first epistle. It is very encouraging to see how God can recover even when there is a very sad state of things among His people. It did not take years and years to recover the Corinthians. Now they were in such accord with the apostle that what grieved him grieved them. In the first epistle they had not grieved; he had had to say, "I have already judged", and, "Ye are puffed up" (1 Corinthians 5:2), but now they are brought into line. There had been such a working of God in them that instead of being puffed up there was the deepest self-judgment, and even the one who had been such a distress was in such repentance that there was a fear of his being swallowed up with grief! What a blessed thing to see that the one of whom Paul had said, "Remove the wicked person" was now in danger, by Satan getting an advantage, of being plunged into too much sorrow! It is beautiful to see the tender grace of Christ that, directly the man was broken, there was an open hand to show love to him: directly the barrier is down the love of Christ can flow freely. Barriers are always on our side, never on His. We see this all through Scripture. As soon as Isaiah said, "Woe unto me! for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips", then flew one of the seraphim with the coal from the altar (Isaiah 6:6). As soon as the prodigal said, "I have sinned", the Father ran to meet him; as soon as David said, "I have sinned against Jehovah", Nathan said, "Jehovah has also put away thy sin", 2 Samuel 12:13. There was no long waiting. The Spirit of Christ would give us right sensibilities, so that we should know when it is the time to rebuke and when to assure a person of our love: there is a time for everything. The Corinthians had been tested as to whether they were in the Spirit of Christ -- "To this

end also I have written, that I might know, by putting you to the test, if as to everything ye are obedient". There is no more sure sign of the Spirit of Christ than obedience; He was the obedient One!

F. Paul is regaining confidence in them.

C.A.C. Very much so! They had answered to the test and, if we do, all is well. Look at the beautiful unfoldings of ministry that follow in this epistle: the new covenant, reconciliation, new creation. Now with the spirit of obedience it can all be opened up. "If ye be willing and hearken, ye shall eat the good of the land", Isaiah 1:19. If we are obedient there is nothing to hinder the blessed ministration of Christ by the Spirit.

F. In what way were they marked by obedience?

C.A.C. They had been exercised by the first epistle, and it wrought in them and produced self-judgment so that they obeyed the commandment of the Lord; they cleared themselves of many things. The spirit of obedience marked them; they were brought into line with the apostle. Satan had been working to get a breach between the apostle and the Corinthians, but they are brought into perfect harmony. In the first epistle he calls them to judge as he did, and now he calls on them to forgive. "To whom ye forgive anything, I also". What he did they did and what they did he did. All is in accord, and it results in the Person of Christ coming into evidence. What a most remarkable statement it is in verse 10! "It is for your sakes in the person of Christ". There was only one Person to be in evidence, though many individuals. Paul was in Macedonia and there was a large company at Corinth, but only one Person was to be in evidence, and that the Person of Christ. So there was to be the same spirit of forgiveness in Paul and in the Corinthians, and that was the Spirit of Christ. This is the way to get rid of all differences and disagreements -- many individuals and

one Person. In the world they say, So many people and so many minds; we say, So many people and one mind. The only Person to be in evidence is the Person of Christ. Sometimes each of us wants his own way. Suppose we all got on our knees and desired that only one Person was to be in evidence, and that Person Christ! What a difference it would make! It takes all the saints to set forth the Person of Christ. Paul wanted the Corinthians to set forth the one Person. Satan is against that; all his doings are to bring some other person into evidence, not Christ, and if he can succeed he has gained his point. The only way we can hold the ground for God in face of Satan is by every brother and every sister being exercised that only one Person should be in evidence, and that one Christ.

By the grace of God, there was to be only one Person in evidence; each, whether Paul or the Corinthians, was to present Christ. Satan had tried to make the Corinthians have a different judgment from Paul; if he had succeeded there would have been more persons in evidence than one. If you and I do not agree we bring two persons into evidence, but if we both walk and act and think in the Spirit of Christ there is only one Person in evidence.

There would be no divisions if there was only one mind among us. When the Corinthians allowed the Spirit of Christ to control them they were brought together, and there was only one Person in evidence. If it is otherwise we are not pleasing to God. A chapter like this is worthy of a great deal of meditation. We ought to seek to learn Christ and the way the Spirit of Christ works; this is the only way He works.

Then we find that the apostle could not go on with his work at Troas: "I had no rest". He was so concerned about the Corinthians that he could not go on preaching, and that was the Spirit of Christ. This is very remarkable; it did not look like being led in triumph! He had to

go off to Macedonia so that he might be a little nearer, and so that he could hear a week or two sooner how they were getting on. He went to meet Titus; he crossed the sea and travelled a considerable distance. It was the Spirit of Christ; it was the yearning of the heart of Christ over these beloved children. They had been in a bad state and he was yearning over them in the utmost tenderness, and God was over all leading him in triumph. The apostle had been brought very low. He speaks of God who comforts us in all our tribulation; and just at the time when he was low and could not go on with his work as an evangelist, God was bringing out Christ in him and leading him in triumph -- not by his preaching, but by his sufferings. The natural man would have said that Paul did not triumph, that he ought to have had more courage and gone on with his work; but God was bringing out Christ in him. Christ was having a triumph, not Paul! What a triumph for Christ to have a man who so yearned over saints that he could not go on with his work. What a triumph to have such a man in this world who had the same love as Christ, not the same amount but the same character of love. The love of Christ never fails; He loves to the end, so there was a sweet odour of Christ about the apostle. Some would not believe, and it was an odour of death to them, but still a sweet odour of Christ to God; and to believers it was an odour of life. When it was not a question of preaching it was still a sweet odour of Christ. Paul said, as it were, 'I am chained to His chariot wheels, Christ is having a triumph, I am a poor captive gracing His triumph!' When a Roman general came back victorious to Rome from foreign lands, they awarded him a triumph; he drove through the streets with the great men he had captured chained to his chariot wheels. God was showing in Paul the graces, the perfections, the sweet odour of Christ whether it was in service or suffering.

M. Is that only the apostle? Do we see it in our day?

C.A.C. Well, we certainly see it in Scripture, and the Spirit of Christ has not changed. I think we see it come out in many ways -- the spirit of meekness, obedience, grace. This is a chapter we should pray over; it shows the sweet odour of Christ; we see it in Paul and in the Corinthians, and God is looking to have it from us. "Who is sufficient for these things?". In the next chapter Paul tells us, "Our competency is of God" (verse 5). "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ", Paul could say. God was putting him through many exercises, but His object was to bring out Christ in him; his sorrows about the Corinthians were used to bring out Christ. We think of triumph when all goes swimmingly, but very often the saints are put through trying circumstances and exhibit a spirit of meekness and of dependence on God. Well, that is Christ coming out; it is God leading them in triumph in the Christ. When we have least sense of triumph, God sees the greatest.

What a contrast the last verse of the chapter is! Many "make a trade of the word of God", handling divine things for their own advantage. It is like a dark shaded background of the picture which showed the beautiful Spirit of Christ. Many in the apostle's time were adulterating, spoiling the word of God; we are not "as the many", he says. We should have thought that in the early days there might have crept in one or two black sheep, but the apostle says, "many". It is people borrowing from others and retailing the word of God, getting it from wholesale dealers and selling it cheap as if it were their own! We need to beware of this, of getting divine things second-hand! A little bit of our own is better than what we can get second-hand. The danger is that we have an idea in our heads and think we have the reality, but nothing is any use till we make it our own. If we are

trafficking in truth, getting ideas and terms and phrases from others and not getting the truth for ourselves, it is most reprehensible. What we need is to get things for ourselves, not second-hand; we ought to pray about this when truth is ministered, and say, 'O God, make me to know it in my soul, make it good in me'. What is spoken of here shows the dark background against which the Spirit of Christ is seen in such lustre.

CHAPTER 3 VERSES 1 - 18

F. Is this chapter connected with the sealing in chapter 1, verse 22?

C.A.C. I think it would be the fruit of it. It is characteristic of the gospel that it is the ministration of the Spirit; and the writing on hearts is by the Spirit of the living God.

N. Why does Paul speak so much about himself in this epistle? It is here, in chapter 5, in chapter 10 and at the close of the epistle.

C.A.C. I suppose they were perhaps charging him with trying to put himself forward. He did not need any letter of commendation at Corinth. If a brother came to a place where all those breaking bread were his converts it would be strange if he needed a letter of commendation.

N. He could point to the Corinthians as his work; they were written in his heart, if in none other.

C.A.C. It is much in keeping with the previous chapter; the affections and sensibilities of Christ come out in the apostle's heart. But more than that, they were known and read of all men.

F. Is not that the result of Paul's ministry?

C.A.C. Yes; he says -- "ministered by us". He passes on then to the thought of the epistle of Christ. I suppose that is really a letter Christ has written; the Corinthian saints were the writing of Christ.

N. Is it the expression of Christ seen in them?

C.A.C. I rather thought it was the character of God that had been inscribed upon them, and that no one could have written but Christ. You can recognise a man's writing! We recognise Christ's writing in them. The great point here is that Christ brings into evidence all that God is, and He takes up saints to make them tables of testimony. These tables do not express what man should be for God, but what God is for man, and no one could write them but Christ. He stooped down once to write that in the dust of death. Only once do we read of His writing -- in John 8:6 - 8. His stooping to write was a twice repeated figure of His coming down from heaven to write the love of God in the dust of death, and that was the cross; it was written there. He stooped to write all the revelation of God's love to men. He says to us, 'I have stooped from the glory to write the story of God's love'; now from the glory He takes up Paul, as a pen, to write in human hearts the same thing that was written in the cross. Others could write epistles, but the finest epistle of all is the living epistle of Christ, and every saint is a page or verse of it. The most wonderful epistle of all is the saints.

N. The devil had no answer to that; he can cavil at John's or Paul's epistle, but there is no cavilling at Christ's.

C.A.C. It is the light of divine love; love has come in as light. We put light and love as if they were a contrast, but the light that shone in Jesus is the light of divine love:

'The light of love has shone in Thee,
And in that love our souls are free'.

That is the end of the chapter; no one is free till he knows the end of this chapter. It is wonderful to think of all that was concentrated in the death of Christ; all the telling out of divine love is now written in myriads of hearts from the glory by the same Person who wrote it in the dust of death. These Corinthians were the setting of it forth. We see in 2 Corinthians that Christ is Writer and Speaker. He is Writer here: "Ye are ... Christ's epistle" -- and in the last chapter He is the Speaker: "Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me". It was Christ who spoke in the apostle and Christ who wrote using the apostle as a pen to write on the fleshy tables of the heart. So that what is in view is a divine work; it must be so from the beginning because no one but God could give man a heart of flesh. A fleshy table is a soft impressionable material, but man's heart is naturally a stone and nothing impresses him unless God gives him a fleshy heart.

N. Is the writing like that of an indelible pencil?

C.A.C. Yes, every mark in the soul made in the power of the Spirit is indelible. The tables are divinely prepared and the writing is there; nothing can ever erase it; it lasts for eternity.

N. Would you say the new covenant is written in letters on Israel's heart and in spirit on ours?

C.A.C. It is the love of God that is written. God will cause Israel to delight to do His will; the very spirit of the covenant is the knowledge of God, the spring from which it all flows -- "they shall all know me". They delight to do His will because they know and love Him. It is not the letter of the new covenant with us but the spirit; the letter only kills.

M. Will you explain how the letter kills?

C.A.C. The letter of the covenant is outside of man and condemns him because he is such a contrast to it. If you take the letter of the gospel, it only kills a man

because it exposes his terrible state. If you tell him that God is love and that Christ has died for him, it only shows what a contrast he is: he is not love, he is just the opposite, so it condemns him. Christ was the true neighbour; He says, "Go and do thou likewise". If man tries to do as Christ did, it kills him. "The commandment having come ... but I died", Romans 7:9. But how wonderful it is when the Spirit is put in the heart! The apostle had not ministered the letter but the spirit of the new covenant: all his ways and manner of life were imbued with the spirit of the gospel. If asked if they had heard the gospel, they could have said, 'Yes, and seen it, too'.

Last week we were seeing how the apostle was imbued with the very spirit of Christ; it is the Spirit that gives life. There are tens of thousands in England who know the letter of the gospel and are not converted. Well, it will only condemn them; their hearts have never been touched and subdued by it. When the heart is touched by the Spirit, a man is subdued; there is an inlet for the love of God into his heart.

N. Was the writing of Christ Paul's confidence?

C.A.C. His confidence was that a divine work had been effected in them: he had no sufficiency, not even an apostle had for such a work as this, but his confidence was that this divine work had really been effected in them.

N. It is a marvellous change from what he had to say to them in 1 Corinthians.

C.A.C. Yes; there is no life seen there, but their sensibilities showed that there was life. We find by the second epistle that they had sensibilities, and when touched they were sensitive. If there is no sensitiveness you can not do anything. People try by talking and persuading to do something, but you cannot if there are no sensibilities.

The effect of the first epistle showed the Corinthians

were sensitive and could be acted on. There was a quickened company; they proved it by their sensitiveness to the first epistle.

Many believers do not think of the side of the gospel that comes out here, the ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness. It is a ministry that serves out the Spirit to man. God serves out His Spirit to man. Just as the law served out death and condemnation, so new covenant ministry serves out the Spirit and righteousness. Christians do not often think of this, that God is dealing out His Spirit to men. It is the great reason for which the gospel is preached; those who preach are ministering the Spirit to men, as we read in Galatians 3:5, "He therefore who ministers to you the Spirit". There had been those amongst them who ministered the Spirit. It is the conferring of the Spirit on men; we get it even in Proverbs 1:23: "I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words". That is the order of the new covenant: we get wisdom's Spirit so that we may understand wisdom's words; that is, we begin with the Spirit and then we understand the words. So that the first thing served out to men is the Spirit of God. People think a good deal about the forgiveness of sins; they can understand how that is served out in the gospel, but they lose sight of the Spirit. No one has forgiveness consciously till he has the Spirit; the consciousness of forgiveness is in the Spirit, so the ministration of the Spirit comes first here and then the ministration of righteousness, which corresponds with forgiveness and justification, but we must have the Spirit to be conscious of it. A great many people try to get at the joy of forgiveness by the letter, by what Scripture says, but it is by having the Spirit that we get the joy and consciousness of it. Everyone in the Church of England says in the apostles' creed, 'I believe in the forgiveness of sins'; they have it in the letter but

not in the Spirit. Christendom ignores the Spirit: christians do not dishonour Christ half as much as they dishonour the Spirit; that is the sin of christendom. I once searched to see what is the first thing man gets in the New Testament. It is the Spirit. In Matthew 3 it is the first thing spoken of as being conferred on man. The great object of the gospel being administered is that saints may receive the Spirit, and that is the side overlooked. I have had great opportunity of listening to the gospel for the last fifteen years, and have carefully observed it and noticed that the essential blessing of the gospel is rarely presented. What is presented in Scripture as the greatest blessing is little alluded to in the preaching of the gospel today.

N. Peter and Paul did not always mention the Spirit, but their preaching made room for it.

C.A.C. They served out the Spirit, and that is the character of new covenant ministry; it ministers the Spirit and righteousness, and it is because of those that you get life and quickening.

N. Is this a subject for the gospel?

C.A.C. I think it is a fine subject for the gospel. I do not know why what was preached on the housetops in early days should be hidden from men today! Peter said, "Repent ... and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call" Acts 2:38, 39. Why should what Peter presented so fully and clearly be hidden now? Many would be greatly interested; would it not affect a man greatly to think he might have the Spirit of God? He would say, 'Is it possible for a sinner like me to have the Spirit? I never heard anything like that before'. It is a denial of the gospel if you think you have to work up to the Spirit: in the new covenant the Spirit is served out. The law served

out death and condemnation; everyone who came under it was condemned; but the new covenant serves out the Spirit to be a vital spring in the souls of men. The Lord spoke of it to the sinful woman at the well (John 4) -- "He would have given thee living water ... whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever, but the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life", John 4:10, 14. The Lord is just telling her the very thing.

N. But is not this ministry for saints?

C.A.C. No doubt people who have hearts of flesh are the only ones who can appreciate it; but there is a divine work going on and there are people all around who are subjects of it, who have hearts of flesh and are impressionable. These are the people who can receive new covenant ministry. Many of us might be content with the letter of it. I do not know anything more humbling than to challenge my soul as to how far I have received this ministry; how much have I got in my soul in the power of the Spirit of God? How much have we got in quickening power? It is an exercise for us all.

F. How does it begin?

C.A.C. God begins. He makes the heart into a heart of flesh and man is exercised. God tells him of the Person and the work of Christ, and of the forgiveness of sins, and of the gift of the Spirit; he receives the Spirit and It becomes a living spring. He has got what is living and it can be added to. It can grow and expand. Nothing counts for God but what is living; He is the living God. It is the "Spirit of the living God" that we have. The new covenant is connected with quickening power. In Psalm 119 quickening is spoken of a good many times; it shows that things are made living. It is not only the letter of the law but the living character; the spirit of it is there. In

connection with it God promised to pour out His Spirit.

Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". There is a shade of difference each time the quickening is mentioned in Psalm 119; each time it applies to something different. I commend it to everyone to read and look up the different connections.

It is a wonderful chapter that we are reading tonight! It is the Lord that quickens, and the Spirit. It all begins with the serving out of the Spirit. It is an immense thing to look at it from the divine side. Why did God send His Son into the world? The end was that men might have the Spirit. Redemption was effected for that and now the gospel is sent out with the object in view that men might have the Spirit. God is not holding It back. People say, Have I got It? The cure for that is to see what God is doing; He is delighting to give the Spirit. Jesus came down and died, and He went up and is glorified. His coming down and going up was all in order that God might give the Spirit. In Acts 10 while Peter was yet speaking the Spirit fell on them all, showing in what a hurry God was to give the Spirit. As soon as souls turn to Christ the Spirit is given. People often speak as if they longed for the Spirit and God would not give it to them; they say, 'I want to have It and I have been praying about it'. That is a slur on God, for there is nothing He so delights in as to give His Spirit. It is His longing and His joy to receive the cry of "Abba Father", and He cannot get it unless He gives His Spirit. People will not believe the gospel; they will do anything rather than believe it! The new covenant is dependent on the presence of the Spirit to be understood and responded to.

How can men know the love of God? Only by the Spirit shedding abroad the love of God in their hearts. John 3:16 is not of practical value to a man without the Spirit. I remember what a comfort it was to me at one

time; it made me feel I should not go to hell! But I did not touch the love of God till I got the Spirit. Many read that verse, a beautiful word, and they get comfort out of it, but they do not get the spring of it till the Spirit pours out the love of God; then the spring of it is in our hearts and we can enjoy it a thousand times more than before.

F. Does not the word quicken?

C.A.C. We are quickened "according to thy word". The word is there and God quickens us according to it, but response is by the Spirit.

CHAPTER 3 VERSES 1 - 18

Ques. Is the writing mentioned here by the Spirit?

C.A.C. One feels, perhaps, that we have not sufficiently given place to the Spirit in connection with the new covenant.

Ques. What is the importance of the Spirit?

C.A.C. I suppose as furnishing the subjective conditions which enable covenant relations to be taken up intelligently and affectionately so that we become pleasurable to God.

Ques. Is that the result of the writing of the living God?

C.A.C. That has a very essential part in it. I thought that the saints had come under the hand of Christ to be written on so that they become tables of the covenant. The covenant finds expression in the saints.

Ques. Is that in contrast with the tables of stone?

C.A.C. It strikes me in reading this chapter that it is very difficult to separate divine Persons, because there is no doubt that the covenant is consummated by God. It is Jehovah who said that He consummated a new covenant;

He does it mediatorially by Christ so that Christ is identified with God, and then we find He is identified with the Spirit too. This chapter gives a wonderful thought of unity; divine Persons are operating to bring about conditions in the saints that will be entirely pleasurable to God.

The Spirit is prominent in chapter 3.

H.B. I was going to ask what part the Spirit has? It says that the Lord is the Spirit. Christ is Mediator and then the Spirit is brought in, and then we get the ministry of the Spirit.

C.A.C. That is very important. It seems to me that to connect the Spirit with it gives the thought of new covenant ministry a permanent place in the assembly. It is not a once for all ministry; the ministry of the new covenant was not what converted the Corinthians; it was not what they began with.

J.B. It is a continuous ministry throughout the dispensation.

C.A.C. What we look for is ministry of a glorious character which is to be maintained in divine power in the assembly and which promotes the service of God in a wonderful way.

L.M. When the Lord was here He wrote upon the ground; now we have a divine Person come in who writes on the fleshy tables of the hearts of the saints.

C.A.C. The living activities of God are in question; it is the Spirit of the living God. The fact that it is the living God gives vitality and permanence to it. The ministry of the Spirit gives character to the whole period.

It is a period marked by what is glorious and excellent, and divine Persons are concerned in it, so you find it difficult to draw any line between divine Persons in this chapter. It belongs to the truth that we are made conscious in our meetings for worship and service that we worship God as known in the Trinity; it belongs to the

ministry of the new covenant. It is to give character to the worship of the assembly. Therefore the point is that something is effected by the Spirit of the living God; something is written on the fleshy tables of the hearts of the saints; something is written indelibly. The whole ministry of the Spirit can be presented to the saints with the assurance that there is a condition of heart that will answer to it. There is additional material secured as tables but they are looked at as complete at any particular time; the tables are never incomplete and they remain.

L.M. What is God's workmanship by the Spirit?

C.A.C. Christ is the Writer, and the saints being the epistle of Christ are the evidence and manifestation of the divine writing. It shows how Christ is identified with God. The thought in the Old Testament is God writing; in the New Testament it is actually Christ. Though it is God's writing the mediatorial activity is that of Christ.

J.B. The finger of God?

C.A.C. It is God personally but suggests the mediatorial idea; God does it. The Spirit of God would deepen in our souls the sense of Christ as in Deity. What is so wonderful is the mediatorial idea as seen in Christ, though it is not so wonderful, perhaps, as to see it in Paul. Paul becomes the instrument in the hand of Christ for divine writing; it is the mediatorial idea carried a step down; Paul is the pen. The Spirit of the living God is connected with something written in the hearts of the saints, and brings what is divine into the hearts of the saints.

J.B. It makes us desire an impression of heart.

C.A.C. Yes, indeed. There can be something in human hearts that is positively divine in character; every mark that is made is made by the living God. There is something in the human heart that corresponds in quality and power to what is in the heart of God. The hearts of the saints are put into correspondence with the heart of

the living God. Could you think of anything greater than my heart as the subject of divine writing being in correspondence with the heart of God? The ministry is continually going on. We dwell in God and God in us; that is John's way of putting the covenant. We have such a restricted idea of the covenant. The place of the Spirit in the covenant is very important, so I am very thankful we have read this chapter. The Lord's supper is very great because it sets before us the immense results of the incarnation, that is the great point in the Supper.

L.M. In that way Christ is not a dead letter but a living epistle in the saints. That is even more than Scripture.

C.A.C. Yes, it is. The Spirit is greater than the Scriptures because He inspired them all. A great deal lies in the intelligence of the Spirit that has never been put into Scripture. The Spirit is a divine Person, and He is the vitality of things. The Scriptures without the Spirit are like the body without the soul.

H.B. Would you say a word as to the expression, "the Lord is the Spirit"? Leaving out the parenthesis it reads, "who has also made us competent, as ministers of the new covenant; not of letter, but of spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit quickens ... Now the Lord is the Spirit".

C.A.C. It is to show us that you cannot have one divine Person without something of the virtue of all. When the Lord was here the Father and the Spirit were here. You cannot think of the Lord in any other way than that He was in the unity of the Godhead all the time. It confirms us in the truth of the Trinity. There is one God; that needs to be known in our souls, but it is God known in three Persons. It is a mystery but it is known to faith and love. The Lord can be identified with the Spirit; the Lord is the Spirit. The Spirit quickens, not the letter, not even the letter of the New Testament quickens. It is the

Spirit who quickens; there is no vitality in the letter itself.

L.M. What a fine company the saints would be as sitting together as quickened! Paul linked Timothy and Silvanus with himself.

C.A.C. Paul loved to link others with himself. Because the character of his ministry was to be worked out in the assembly he loved to put others with himself. Though he had the ministry yet he liked to identify others with himself.

L.M. Is it possible for us to be linked with Paul?

C.A.C. I thought so -- if any are competent for this ministry, for it is entirely of God. The vessel of it was a human vessel, but the ministry and the competency for it are entirely divine. That separates us from human thoughts and theology and everything about us in the religious world. We come to a new character of things where all is divine. In the assembly there is no competency to take up the new covenant except in the power of God; it is a spiritual realm. There is the attaching of saints to Christ, the anointing, the sealing and the earnest; that is all to supply what is necessary for us so that we may come into this new and glorious system.

L.M. Even though the first covenant was introduced by glory, it now is surpassed by a greater glory altogether -- indeed it is annulled. Therefore I suppose we can understand that the first covenant caused them to be afraid. In the new covenant, the nearer we get the brighter we find things.

C.A.C. Yes. Therefore there is liberty; it is a system of liberty. We want that so that we can move happily in relation to God and the brethren. We are in perfect liberty outside the domain of the letter.

Ques. "Not of letter, but of spirit". What does that mean?

C.A.C. Things are taken up in their vitality apart from the letter; it is spirit. It is very difficult to say whether there should be a small 's' or a large one there. Paul goes on to say, "The Spirit quickens"; there you have evidently got a Person. Paul contrasts the two systems of things, not letter but spirit, but afterwards a divine Person is in view and he passes from the one thought to the other almost imperceptibly. As to our taking up things in spirit in contrast with the letter, we can only do it by the Holy Spirit; we only touch them in virtue of being quickened by the Holy Spirit who is a divine Person. Then you find the Lord is the Spirit so the Lord and the Spirit are identified; the Spirit that quickens is the Lord.

J.B. Why is there that designation, "the Lord"?

C.A.C. I thought it was to enhance the dignity belonging to Him as Mediator of the new covenant.

L.M. There is authority with 'Lord'.

C.A.C. Yes, and all that is of God is set forth in the Lord.

H.B. What is the character of the fleshy tables in contrast with the tables of stone?

C.A.C. The work of God beginning with new birth. The fleshy tables view the saints as subjects of divine work; this wonderful writing and ministry follow on that, and they go on. We want to make room on every occasion for the ministry of the Spirit.

L.M. If the covenant is known as we are looking at it here, there must be springs of love to God. It says, "If any one love God, he is known of him", 1 Corinthians 8:3.

C.A.C. Yes. We should come together to the Lord's supper in the liberty of that.

H.B. Does the ministry of the Spirit make me know what the saints are in God's thoughts?

C.A.C. Yes. It liberates us when we get to divine

thoughts and divine love. We have to look at the death of Christ as in the Supper as that which has inaugurated this glory system in which God shines. He is radiant in the face of Jesus and it is all founded on the value of His blood. There should not be any want of liberty in giving thanks for the cup for it introduces us to such radiant glory. In 1 Corinthians 12 we read, "For also in the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body"; that refers to the loaf, but then we read, "and have all been given to drink of one Spirit"; that refers to the cup. It is as much as to say that all that is conveyed in the cup is not only what is expressed in the death of Christ but also all that is known in the power of the Spirit. We are all made to drink into one Spirit so there is perfect unity and liberty.

H.B. We are sometimes in a hurry to get away from the covenant.

C.A.C. I think we should not hurry away from what the Lord suggests to us. The Lord distinctly gave us this cup and He said, "This do", and in giving us the cup He told us it was the new covenant in His blood poured out for us. Therefore if we reverence the Lord we ought not to be too quick in getting away from the thought of that. It is wonderful to think of what comes out in chapters 3 and 4 of this epistle. A better knowledge of God in the covenant would put substance and body into our worship to the Father as we move on; it would give stature to sons. Mostly the saints are 'small' sons and we only get stature in sonship through the covenant. It is as we know God that we get stature. We learn God in the covenant, so we should have more stature for sonship if we knew God better. You do not leave the Lord out, for you never forget that you only know God through the Lord; we only know Him through the Mediator.

L.M. It is only as in the good of the new covenant that

we are able to address God freely.

C.A.C. Yes.

L.M. That brings us into the presence of divine Persons and then we are led on from glory to glory.

C.A.C. Yes. The Lord loves to link Himself with any right thought in relation to God; He loved to identify Himself with the repentant remnant, to be on their side, to be baptised. He said, "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness", Matthew 3:15. The Lord loves to identify Himself with those who receive the knowledge of God; He loves to lead them on from the point they have reached. That brings in His headship. The Lord has great pleasure in coming to our side; on the mediatorial side He is on God's part, but when we have got the benefit of that there is something He can identify Himself with; He is attracted by what He finds there. When He comes He must be Leader; He leads us on as far as He can, as far as to Bethany in Luke 24. On any occasion the Lord will lead us as far as we can go; we cannot always reach to John 20. The marvel of all is that the Lord is the Spirit; that is the divine side. He is the quickening Spirit; the spiritual, vital relation to God has its origin in the Lord. We cannot separate between the Lord and the Spirit, but we read, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". I feel I little enter into that. We have the Spirit of a divine Person who is identified with the Lord, so we cannot separate them. The same Spirit is in the saints and secures liberty, so that we move in relation to God in the same liberty in which the Lord Himself is. It is possible to withdraw into the region of the Spirit -- to leave one's business, one's family and oneself and pass into the region of the Spirit. That is a spiritual possibility I should like to cultivate for myself. It is wonderful liberty! "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". It is the same Spirit in Him and in the saints, so there is

liberty on both sides, with Him to lead and with us to be led. Our meetings are strangely lacking in liberty often; we get into ruts and say the same things over and over again. If the Spirit put us in liberty it would give us freshness and variety even in what we say. Freshness in the affections leads to variety.

H.B. "My soul set me upon the chariots of my willing people", Song of Songs 6:12.

C.A.C. Quite so. What a delightful company for the Lord, a company quickened by Him! Something is written in their hearts by the Spirit of the living God and they are quickened and brought into this system of glory, and there is the ministry going on continually! All ministry in the Spirit tends to liberty. People say sometimes that we put the saints in bondage, but the truth always makes free. Nothing of God ever puts the saints in bondage.

Ques. Is it an encouragement to surrender human resources?

C.A.C. Yes, and give more place to the Spirit. If we all, brothers and sisters alike, knew that we are in the day of the Spirit, a wonderful period marked off as the time when the Spirit dwells here, there is no limit to what the Spirit could do for us as we admit this and give it place with us.

L.M. Would Olivet be on the way to John 20?

C.A.C. Surely. The Lord, in coming to a company He could lead, would always have in His mind the terminus. He might only be able to lead us as far as to Bethany, but He would always have in His mind the terminus, John 20. As having the Spirit of the Lord -- there is a wonderful dignity and exaltation about that -- there must be liberty, liberty to behold the glory of the Lord so that we are changed. We become unified with God's character and glory and become like it. What a company the assembly would be if this were entered into! There is

more on the line of the covenant in Scripture than on the line of sonship. If we take account of the types, what a lot there is on the line of the covenant. There is an immense region opened up by the covenant; the covenant qualifies you to go into the land. The thought of the threshing floor and the wine press is in the covenant; the book that was sprinkled with blood was the book of the covenant; the Hebrew servant was in the covenant; the feasts were in the covenant and the covenant qualifies us for the land. There is a lot in the covenant; in the power of the: covenant you can take up the service of God in the land. The central point for worship in the land is the ark of the covenant. We get the temple too, but the centre is the ark of the covenant. The land is only enjoyed properly in the blessedness of the covenant. The covenant that was given at Horeb was in view of the land.

CHAPTER 3 VERSES 7 - 18

C.A.C. Christians are very apt to connect the thought of glory with the future, but this chapter fills the present with glory.

A. Does the glory begin here?

C.A.C. Yes, I think glory marks the whole dispensation; it is a dispensation of glory. The dispensation of the law began with glory, but it did not subsist in glory; the glory did not abide. The christian dispensation not only begins in glory but it subsists in glory. It is striking that what is referred to in this chapter is not the first time that Moses went up the mount, but the second time. The first time he went up there was no glory in his face; he came

down with the tables in his hand, but broke them at the foot of the mount when he saw the people's sin: he knew it was all over with them on the ground of pure law. The second time he goes up the mount he goes up as one who had found grace. It is remarkable that God had said to Moses, "Thou hast also found grace in mine eyes", Exodus 33:12. Moses personally had found grace in the sight of the Lord, and he says, "Make me now to know thy way", and then further, "Let me, I pray thee, see thy glory". That is the glory that shone in his face, it was the reflection of God's glory. God had passed by and proclaimed Himself as merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, and that glory made Moses' face shine and made him a worshipper. "Moses made haste, and bowed his head to the earth and worshipped", Exodus 34:8. Even God coming out and proclaiming His mercy and grace was a ministration of death because it did not minister anything for man. Moses personally learnt the way in which God's favour could be known; he learnt the meaning of the cleft in the rock. God had said, "I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand". Moses is hidden and God passes by. This is one of the most striking figures of the death of Christ in the Old Testament. Man is put out of sight and God is revealed; on the ground of that, Moses' face could shine. In figure it is the complete blotting out of all that that man was, and the shining out of all that God is. Still the public dispensation and government of God was one of law; the glory shone in connection with demands made on man, and therefore it was a ministry of death. The apostle in this chapter is seeking to bring out the glory of the present ways of God in grace, showing that the Spirit and righteousness are ministered to man. The law ministered nothing to man but condemnation and death, but the new covenant ministers the Spirit and

righteousness, and it subsists in glory. It is just as glorious today as at Pentecost; there is not an atom of change. God gives His Spirit just as much now as He did then and it is the same Spirit and the same righteousness. Saints may say what blessed times there were at Pentecost and how they would have liked to live in the times of the beginning of christianity, but there is no reason why we should not be as well off now as then, that is, inwardly, not outwardly.

A. Have we not more light now?

C.A.C. Yes. In those days they had much less light than has come out since. It is an immense thing to get hold of the fact that we belong to a system of glory and that we partake of its glory; nothing could be more glorious than to have the Spirit of God. There is no testimony to the value of redemption so great as the fact that the Spirit is given to those who believe. Everything is supplied now; there is no demand. The glory is a glory of grace. The Spirit and righteousness are the two great features of christianity. Righteousness is a much greater thing than justification: the latter has reference to offences, to what we have done, but righteousness is in contrast with sin, with all that we are. To put it simply, the ministry of righteousness means that I get rid of all I am, and get in exchange all that Christ is. What a wonderful exchange! That is what God is ministering now -- a full Christ for an empty sinner; as has often been said, it is that or nothing now. God cannot give more. All that God can give us is wrapped up in Christ and the Spirit. There is no veil needed now. There was nothing ministered under the law, nothing brought to man then on God's part, so he could not bear to look at the glory. It is only when everything is ministered to us in grace that we can bear to look at the glory. The veil was put on Moses' face in mercy, because man could not bear the glory

when it came connected with demand. The old covenant had a glory connected with demand, but the glory of the new covenant is connected with supply. God's object in sending out the gospel is that men might have the Spirit and have Christ as righteousness. If glory comes to me in the way of supply, the nearer I come to it, the more I look into it, the more I am enriched. The nearer I come to God, the more I look at His glory, the better off I am; it makes me a worshipper like Moses: he made haste and bowed his head and worshipped, and then his face shone. That is what we get in this chapter, the saints' faces shine. Not only is there glory in the Lord's face, but the saints are all seen reflecting that glory, and that is how they become tables of testimony. That is what the testimony is; if we are not shining we are not in God's testimony.

M. Has the brazen serpent aspect of the death of Christ to do with righteousness?

C.A.C. Yes, and immediately after the brazen serpent we get the springing well. If sin in the flesh is condemned in the cross of Christ, the Spirit can be given.

M. Then they pitched towards the sun rising. Is that the dawn of an entirely new day?

C.A.C. Yes. If you look at the map you will see that was the moment they turned to the land of promise. Before that they were going due south with their backs to the land, but they came to the brazen serpent and to the springing well, and then they pitched towards the sun rising, that was due east; they turned to the land, and they never turned their backs to it after. We get the brazen serpent in John 3, and the well in John 4 springing up into eternal life -- that is very much like the land.

What remarkable terms are used here: in verse 8, "Shall not rather the ministry of the Spirit subsist in glory?"; in verse 9, "Much rather the ministry of

righteousness abounds in glory"; in verse 10, "The surpassing glory"; and verse 11, "That which abides subsists in glory". What a system of glory! It gives us the key to Romans 8:30, "Whom he has justified, these also he has glorified"; the saints are glorified now, glorified in having Christ and the Spirit. Why did He justify? In order that He might give us His Spirit; every one who has the Spirit and Christ is morally glorified.

M. How is it that these things do not come out more in us?

C.A.C. That is our great exercise, that they might be seen. People who have the Spirit and Christ ought to come out carrying the features of Christ and the Spirit.

We see how it is brought about in the last verse of the chapter, and it is "from glory to glory". Every step of the way is an ascending scale of glory: that is a good Pilgrim's Progress! It would be impossible to look at all this if we are entangled with what we are in the flesh, and do not know that we are clear of it by the cross and death of our Saviour; until then the veil is on our heart, there is that which hinders the perception of the glory. How could you bring what you are into this system of glory? One can hardly find words to express what we are in the flesh.

Bildad the Shuhite expresses it in a way that comes nearer the truth than anything I know. He says (Job 25:6) man is a worm; the word "worm" is literally 'maggot'.

That is the creature God has taken up to bring into this system of glory, and to have the Spirit and Christ. The glory of Christ becomes the personal wealth of the soul, so it can be said, "Whom he has justified, these also he has glorified".

The Spirit has been given to bring us in heart and mind into the glory system now. Paul says, "We use much boldness"; we have not got to cover anything up. If all that I am is not gone in the death of Christ, if every rag

and stitch of self was not cleared away in the cross, I would be lost to all eternity, but now there is no need to hide anything; the more we come out into the full light of the glory of God, the better off we shall be.

A. We are brought into a wealthy place.

C.A.C. Yes, we get the wealthy place here, and it was all in view in the times of the old covenant; God had it in view. God always had an end in view, Christ and the Spirit. Scripture opens with that, the tree and the river are on the front page. All the Old Testament, even the law, is full of Christ and the Spirit in figure, but it was not known. "Unto this day the same veil remains in reading the old covenant, unremoved". They did not see Christ and the Spirit in the Old Testament, and many believers now fail to see Christ and the Spirit in the Scriptures; they read them in relation to themselves. They go to Scripture to find a comforting verse for themselves and they find it, of course, but they do not get the real good of Scripture. If I read Scripture with regard to myself the veil is on my heart, but if we read it with regard to Christ and to the Spirit we gain very much. Very often in reading it it is self that is before us, but the right way is to have Christ before us. The great themes of Scripture are Christ and the Spirit, and if we look for them we get the truest comfort; we get lifted up, but in another Man. God is not seeking to build me up as an individual apart from Christ. He seeks to build us up in Christ, and if we get more of Christ we are lifted up to be exalted in another Man. We are naturally self-centred; we have to learn to be Christ-centred. The true centre of Scripture is Christ. We are too much like the old astronomers; they believed the earth was the centre of the whole universe, and that the sun revolved round it, so all was in a muddle to them! If we read the Scriptures with self as a centre we miss the whole kernel; but if we see Christ is the centre we get

things rightly adjusted. The Spirit is given as a bond of attachment to the centre, Christ, and then we are set in our right place and orbit.

To come into the blessing of all these things we have to turn to the Lord: when the heart of Israel "shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away". That sets forth a turning away from self; that is what turning to the Lord means, and then the veil is taken away. It will be a wonderful day for Israel when they turn to the Lord. You get their experience depicted in Job, which is a setting forth prophetically of God's ways with self-righteous Israel. Job learned to part with self. He had held on to it tight,, "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go", Job 27:6. It hindered him from seeing the glory; then he learns to abhor himself and turns to the Lord and he is in liberty. Israel has had long centuries of self-righteousness, but the day will come when they abhor themselves and have the Lord as their righteousness. Then, as prophesied, they will have the Spirit, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground", Isaiah 44:3. What will be their portion is ours now; they get it in a day of manifested glory, we get it now in a day when glory is known spiritually, not manifestly.

M. "The heavens declare the glory of God" -- is that because Christ is there?

C.A.C. Yes, I think that is a just application of Psalm 19. The sun in the heavens is really Christ.

M. "There is nothing hid from the heat thereof".

C.A.C. Yes, verse 4 is quoted in Romans 10:18 as referring to the gospel. It is wonderful how the Lord is the Spirit of all the Old Testament. We have to get built up in the letter of the Old Testament; then we find that the Lord is the Spirit of it and that every part of it testifies of Him. Then how wonderful it is that we should

have the Spirit of the Lord! The Lord is the Spirit of all Scripture, but there is another thing, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". Christians have the Spirit of a glorified Man in heaven as the Spirit of liberty. That does not mean liberty in the meeting but in soul. If we are all in liberty in our souls there will be liberty in the meetings. The kind of liberty that verse 17 has in view is enlarged on in verse 18. It is liberty to look on the glory of the Lord, liberty to be transformed according to the same image. Verse 18 is a very good and full description of christian liberty. There is not another chapter like this one; it brings out the glory of the new covenant and the true character of christian liberty.

F. What does an unveiled face involve?

C.A.C. That there is no veil on the glory of the Lord, in contrast with Moses. Moses had to veil his face because Israel could not look on the glory, but the Lord has no need to veil the glory because saints are able to look on it; the glory ministers everything to them, it does not demand. The unveiled face is on the Lord's side; it is He whose face is unveiled: "the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face" is the right translation. There is the full shining forth of all that God is in grace. We sometimes sing, 'Oh, the glory of the grace, shining in the Saviour's face'. That is blessedly true. He has a people in this world who have Him as their righteousness and who have His Spirit. If that is so, there is no need for a veil on His face. If He were not our righteousness and if we had not His Spirit, we could not bear to look at His face. No one can bear to look at the unveiled face of Jesus till he has Him for righteousness. I have Him instead of self, and I have His Spirit; there is no need for Him to veil His face! So when we look at it, instead of being withered up as a natural man would be, we are transformed. If righteousness has been ministered to us and we have His Spirit, we

are transformed from glory to glory. Instead of consuming fire it is a conforming power.

The apostle could speak with perfect liberty. He had the end in view that the saints should be here with shining faces; the glory of God in grace should be shining out in them. The only place where the world can see the glory of grace is in the saints; if they do not see it there they do not see it at all. Stephen was the most blessed illustration of this verse, "Having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus", and he was transformed to the same image. He said, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge"; that is, he acted in exactly the same grace as Jesus; that was the shining out of the glory.

Jesus had said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do". That is the glory of God; Stephen looked at it and reflected it. What an expression of grace! The spirit of divine grace is to express itself in us. If anyone persecutes you, you pray for him; if he reviles you, you bless him. That is the character of glory. Instead of showing the character of the devil or of a man in the flesh, we are to show the character of God. That is God's testimony, bound up in people who act like Him "This people have I formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise", Isaiah 43:21. These are people who show forth His grace. We might say, 'This is too blessed, it is all out of our reach', but there was one man who did it, Stephen, and if one man can do it, another can. The course of saints is normally on a progression of glory, an ascending scale. The new convert who has just learnt God in grace, expresses a little, and as he goes on to know a little more he expresses more grace; it is in a moral sense, of course. It is all accomplished by the Lord the Spirit, not by human effort; it is not attainment. It is not simply by the Lord, but by the Lord the Spirit; that is, it is not simply by having the Lord as an object; that is not sufficient.

People say you must have the Lord as an object -- that is so, but not enough; it is the Lord the Spirit. It suggests the thought that the Spirit is there providing power in the saints subjectively. The wonderful thing is that we are one Spirit with the Lord; the very same Spirit that is in the glorified Man at God's right hand is in the saints down here and that is how any transformation is effected.

F. Is that the same as, "As he is, we also are in this world", 1 John 4:17?

C.A.C. That would be the result. The result is that saints come out as He is. He is the righteous One, and the saints are righteous. If you read the epistle of John you will see that the characters that attached to the saints are the same as those attached to Christ. If He is righteous, they are righteous; if He is holy, they are holy; and in that sense "as he is, we also are". It is the result of what we get in this chapter.

CHAPTER 4 VERSES 1 - 18

C.A.C. There is enough in chapter 3 to keep us from fainting: "Having this ministry ... we faint not".

A. Is that the ministry of the Spirit?

C.A.C. Of the Spirit and righteousness. It is the wonderful system of supply that we have to do with, not a system of demand; everything is supplied; it is the character of new covenant ministry.

T. The last verse of chapter 3 has a wonderful effect.

C.A.C. Yes, in contrast to what was of old it gives marvellous elevation to the people of God. The law never proposed to make men like God but new covenant ministry transforms men into the likeness of God. When God comes out in grace it is that He may form a people to

show forth His praise; He is working in grace so that His saints may carry the impression of all that He is.

T. "God ... who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ".

C.A.C. Yes, it all shone into the heart of the apostle so that it might shine out again and that we might be put into the shining of it. Christians connect the glory with the future but we were seeing last week that the present time is a time of glory. If we are not living in the light of present glory we are not in the light of christianity. There is the glory of God, the glory of Christ and the glory of having the Spirit; the ministry of the new covenant subsists in glory, abounds in glory, and there is the surpassing glory! Glory marks the present time; if glory will not make a person's face shine, I do not know what will!

T. What do you understand by "from glory to glory"?

C.A.C. That the course of the saints is progression; it goes from one step of glory to another; every step is a step in glory, and it is the glory of grace. It is all effected by the Lord and the Spirit.

T. The apostle does not leave out mercy.

C.A.C. The vessel is sustained by mercy; it is mercy that keeps us in a sense of glory; we are vessels for glory. Mercy takes account of the need on our side; God never loses sight of it. However blessed the character of the dispensation of grace and glory is, God always takes account of our real needs as described in verses 8 and 9, "every way afflicted, but not straitened; ... persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed". All this has to do with the actual circumstances the vessel is in. We always have the sense of the earthen vessel: the more we are filled with the glory of the treasure, the more we shall be conscious of the earthen vessel. We could not touch the glory system unless we have mercy; we are not

great enough for glory. It is lovely to see the two things brought together, mercy to support the earthen vessel, and the treasure put into it. Nothing is made of the earthen vessel but everything of the treasure. I heard of an old brother once who got so happy that he had to pray to the Lord to stop pouring in the blessing or else to enlarge the vessel. That is not often our experience. Still, one might feel the vessel could not hold any more; one may have a sense that the blessing is so great that there is not room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10). We can sing, 'Ah, Lord, enlarge our scanty thought, To know the wonders Thou hast wrought'.

We find in verse 2 the exercise of the apostle that whatever was inconsistent with this glory system was to be set aside; he says, "we have rejected the hidden things of shame"; they were not in keeping with the glory. The ways of a servant are to be in keeping with what he ministers; people could never have rejected the teaching of Paul on the ground of inconsistency in the preacher. T. That was the fruit of mercy.

C.A.C. And of being transformed -- Paul was a transformed man; he went down to Damascus like a lion and came back like a lamb.

There is nothing veiled on God's side now; it is the god of this world that does the veiling if there is any now. "If also our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those that are lost; in whom the god of this world has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving". That is an allusion to the veil in the previous chapter. God does not bring in any veil now; there is no barrier to keep a poor sinner at a distance. Man's heart is so self-sufficient that he will not turn to the Lord, but if he turns the veil is gone. There is not only the power of God, but the power of the god of this world and he brings in a veil now. He does his utmost to hide the gospel, to blind men's thoughts.